Power Rangers: Infinity
by Sir Perfluous
Summary: The multiverse has fallen into grave peril as a demonic goddess of primordial darkness threatens to blot out the light of Creation forever. With the help of Power Rangers past and present, a young group of heroes must rise and answer destiny's call: to unite the Realms and preserve the light in its darkest hour.
1. Prologue: Part 1

**Disclaimer: Power Rangers is owned by Hasbro, not I.**

**So I decided to write another story set within the Mythic Cycle. For those who are new, it's a self-made continuity of OC Ranger stories focusing on themes drawn from magic, folklore, and world mythology. The universe has grown over time to include the works of a few other authors here who I consider my good friends. This story is meant to be a tribute to all those series and to tie them together at least in a loose way. **

**I'll mention the related stories that all feed into this one at the end of the chapter, but I want to give a special thanks to _Stormasius_ and _ChibiDawn23_ in particular for their help in planning this story as well as their continued advice and friendship. If you haven't done so already, check out their work because they're both great writers and even better people. That said, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.**

* * *

The Citadel was in complete chaos as William Sheppard sprinted down the narrow passageway into the large central hall of the fortress. The Skywarden's royal blue cloak fluttered behind him as he wove past a few columns of the marble arcade and into the center of the Romanesque style building carved of ancient stone. To his horror, he saw his only other path to escape was barred by more Pariahs at the front gate. The menacing creatures from the black realm of Stygia closed in like hungry predators with their freakish elongated arms, sharp claws, and the disc shaped faceplates that masked their hideous features. Upon those foot soldiers' helms glowed a familiar demon sigil… one of Cambion origin.

William skidded to a halt and panted as his mind worked furiously to think of another plan. By now, the other members of his wizard order had been slaughtered and he was likely the only one left. All he knew was that he had to protect the parcel that his master had entrusted to him. He gripped a leather satchel in one hand while waving a straight sword in the other to ward off his foes. He called out an incantation and the blade flared to life with crackling electricity that lit up the hall, "Light from the heavens! Shattering the seas and skies! Storm Seeker, release and dispel!"

The air rippled with arcane power as the warden slashed his sword and created a great thunderclap. A bolt of searing lightning ripped through the horde of Pariahs and incinerated several of them to give the warden a little more breathing room. As the light faded, Will's plain sword had transfigured itself into a new form, that of a katana glowing with bright blue light. Several of the shadow-beasts recoiled from the light and snarled in fury at the Skywarden's defiant stand. Those that were foolish enough to lunge at him were quickly cut down with a few practiced sword strokes.

Will gripped his blade and tensed his muscles to prepare for a new attack when when he was surprised to hear the sound of applause. He turned and saw some of the Pariahs back off and make way for a figure clad in long dark robes outfitted with assorted pieces of jagged armor. The newcomer wore a horned helm that looked to be of vaguely draconic design that obscured his face. He clapped his hands in a mocking manner, "Very impressive Warden Sheppard. You never did care much for fighting, but I see you have it in you after all. Master Alvarez was right to be very proud of you."

"He would be more ashamed he ever taught a traitor like you, Damon!" Will spat back venomously as his sword crackled angrily with lightning.

"Damon Kincaid is dead," the dark warrior snorted as he calmly ambled forward through the Stygian troops around him. "I am General Noctis now."

The malevolent knight eyed his former classmate and comrade with a mixture of amusement and derision. William Sheppard was a man in his early thirties with handsome patrician features, short black hair, and striking blue eyes. Noctis had always hated Will for being a model Skywarden: studious, disciplined, and honorable to fault. Ever since they had joined the order, Damon had considered him his rival and that festering animosity was on full display here.

"Spare me any more righteous indignation Sheppard. You should be lucky I'm even letting you live right now," Noctis sighed.

Will scoffed sarcastically, "How generous of you. I think this is the first time you've ever shown me such a courtesy."

"I think it's time you do us all a favor and hand over those morphers," Noctis retorted.

"You know I can't do that... Damon," Will answered in defiance.

Noctis growled at the taunt and reached to draw his own blade but he stopped when he heard a sinister laugh quietly echoing in the hall. It sounded like it came from a woman as a tall figure emerged from the murky shadows. The Pariahs backed away in reverence and began to cower while the ambient light of the hall grew dimmer. In the wake of the shadowy gloom, a tall woman materialized and glided forward slowly. She was adorned in a flowing black gown that trailed away into the darkness and she carried herself with a regal air. Her skin was a pale marble white and her thin build had an almost skeletal quality to it. While her figure still possessed a sinister allure, there were equally monstrous aspects to her appearance. Her arms were elongated, stretching into menacing claws that were covered in blackness. Upon the regal witch's head was an elaborate ornamental headpiece shaped into a metal disk with jagged radiating blades forming a sinister mockery of a sun motif. The headpiece covered her features halfway down her face leaving her sallow ghoulish lips exposed and they curled into a sadistic smile.

"Enough Noctis. If your friend was wise, he may yet join us. What say you, Skywarden? Surrender to me."

Will paused and felt the air ripple with a powerful psychic energy. It tugged at his will as the words washed over him and for a brief moment, the Skywarden felt his own resolve begin to falter as he questioned himself. He fought through the disorienting psychic effects of her demonic magic and he shook it off, "Forget it Shemhazai. I don't know what rock you crawled out of or how you even got back here, but if you want these morphers, you'll have to kill me first."

The demon sorceress gave a sardonic sniff, "Impressive willpower... for a mortal. If that is your wish, then so be it."

Before she could signal her Pariah shadow-beasts to tear him apart, Will gathered all the remaining light he could into his blade and used it to open an escape portal. At the moment, the only place he could think of fleeing to was home and the one safe place that remained. Noctis drew his sword and shouted out in frustration as he saw the blue cloaked Skywarden escape, "No! Damn you, Sheppard!"

"Stay your blade General," Shemhazai said calmly.

"But the morphers!" Noctis insisted, "He might find a way to use those weapons against you."

"Weapons that are yet untested," Shemhazai replied as she turned and began to walk up the Great Hall, "For now, we've accomplished our goal. Destroying the Skywardens and seizing the Citadel."

Noctis took a moment to look around at the former headquarters of his wizard order. The extra-dimensional fortress had been a bulwark against dark forces for centuries and because of his treachery, the Citadel had fallen in less than an hour. Perhaps he should have felt some sort of remorse or sentimentality... but he didn't. Not anymore. He turned back the Shemhazai, "My Queen?"

"From here we can work on opening the gate to our true goal, Confluence... the Heart of the Worlds," Shemhazai smiled as she neared window and looked out on the dying orange light of twilight setting in outside, "In the mean time, I will let you worry about dealing with that last pesky Skywarden. I trust you can handle that task, General?"

Noctis gave a dark wolfish grin as he prepared himself for a hunt, "It will be my pleasure."

* * *

Elsewhere, the same orange twilight hung over the skies as Alex Everett stood along the edges of a riverbank and watched the sun setting in the distance. He had made his way down the trail of one of his town's many forest preserves. This trail in particular was one of his favorites to hike as it followed the course of the winding river which hooked around the edge of town and gave it its name of Riverbrook. As Alex stood and listened to the gentle sounds of rippling waters, he noticed the warm balmy air had already cooled. It was nearing the end of August and summer would be over soon. He gave a deep sigh and lamented the end of vacation as school would be starting again.

Of course it wasn't all bad. There was a lot to do and plenty of fun left to be had... yet the dying sun in the sky couldn't help but remind Alex of one fact. High school wouldn't last forever and the start of junior year would mark the time to get serious. Things like colleges, entrance exams, careers, and futures would have to be considered. He hadn't expected to have such a sobering thought while out on his evening walk, but there was a melancholic beauty in the way the light of the early evening sun glittered on the waters right now and the people of the town had always been very attuned to the mood of the river.

Alex took another moment to breathe in the warm summer air when he froze and heard some rustling nearby. He turned quickly toward some bushes at the edge of the trail and was surprised to see a girl there. She looked to be about his age though he didn't recognize her from school. She wore a plain yellow t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts and despite her simple fashion style, she was kinda cute in a girl-next-door kinda way. The girl adjusted the glasses she wore on her nose and hurriedly brushed aside some of her blonde hair, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I can be such a klutz sometimes. I really didn't mean to startle you just now. I promise I'm not some weirdo who was trying to stalk you and..."

"Whoah... hey, slow down," Alex replied with a bemused chuckle, "It's okay. No harm done... really."

The girl gave a sigh of relief and returned the smile with a slightly nervous laugh, "Oh good. I didn't want to get off on the wrong foot and make everyone around town think, Oh look, there goes the crazy new girl, hehe."

"Err... right," Alex answered as he raised an eyebrow and tried to get a read on this person. She seemed friendly enough... if a little awkward, "You said you're new around here?"

"Yeah, my family just moved here from Wisconsin a couple weeks ago," she said before giving herself a light smack on the head and thrusting her hand forward, "Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Julia Walker."

"Alex Everrett. Nice to meet you," he said taking her hand and shaking it, "And I guess, welcome to Riverbrook."

"Thanks," she said as she hesitantly walked over to join him at the riverbank, "I will say this. It's a beautiful little town, all nestled away in the forest preserves. And here I thought the all the suburbs of Chicago were going to be noisy, dirty, and crowded... oh, err, no offense or anything."

Alex smiled gently, "None taken... but the towns here aren't all that bad. I guess you just have to go find the beauty where you can, even if it's in unexpected places."

Julia blinked at him and now it was Alex's turn to fumble a little. He hadn't intended to suggest anything or give this girl the wrong idea either, "Or... at least that's what my English teacher Mr. Sheppard taught me."

"Ah..." Julia nodded as she looked out over the river, "So I'm guessing that's what you're doing right now? Finding the beauty out here?"

Alex shrugged, "Something like that, I guess. School is starting up tomorrow so I guess I just had a lot on my mind. I figured I'd go on a little walk tonight, you know?"

"Tell me about it," Julia sighed, "I'm still trying to find my way around all the trees and winding roads of this town. Wouldn't it have been something if I missed my first day of class tomorrow because I got lost?"

Alex looked at her for a long moment before crossing his arms, "I'm guessing you need a guide... because you're lost right now?"

"If you don't mind," she answered sheepishly.

Alex shrugged and began to head back toward town. If he was going to have a new (odd) classmate come tomorrow, at least he wanted her to be a friendly one, "Aright. Come with me. I'll walk you home."

* * *

Further up the riverwalk, Jung Eun-Kye pedaled his blue bicycle toward town. This wasn't the particular type of cruising he was hoping for, but it would have to do while his motorcycle was being fixed up the local auto shop. Admittedly this was still a nice change of pace from what he was used to back home in Seoul. He had been eager to get on his bike and take a ride into the city of Chicago to see the sights and experience what things in a big American city were like, especially before his first day of American school too. For now at least, a nice bike ride though the suburbs would have to do. He was enjoying the hues of the pretty skies above, the feel of the summer air though his perfectly styled dark brown hair, and the colorful locals as a figure in a dark blue cloak sprinted across the trail... followed by a pack of monstrous creatures? Jung gasped in alarm and slammed the brakes, only to crash into one of the shadowbeasts.

The Pariah was staggered as Jung flew off his bike and landed hard on the grassy parkway nearby. He rolled through the crash and was fortunate to have not suffered any major injury. He simply lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. For a moment, the other shadowbeasts turned and reared up on the helpless teenager who was still dazed on the ground. Jung rolled over and stared with a mixture of fear and awe at the monstrous humanoid creatures who stalked forward. He couldn't see their faces at all, but if the low sounds of their growls were any indication, they were not friendly creatures at all. The man in the blue cloak stopped and whirled around when he saw Jung was in trouble. The Skywarden muttered a low curse to himself and sprinted back toward the fray. Jung continued to stare in wonder as the man with short dark hair and blue eyes seemed to pull a sword of light out of nowhere and slash aside one of the monsters to get to his side. Jung was hauled up quickly by the arm as the wizard fixed him with a tense look, "You alright kid? Get out of here, now!"

Jung simply stammered a reply and jumped when several of the creatures charged forward and tried to gangpile the man who saved him. What the hell was going on here? Amid the tussle, Jung saw the man drop a satchel while three objects tumbled out from a tear in the side of it. Jung picked one of the artifacts up and saw that it was a circular object made of gold. It looked like some sort of compass with rings of arcane runes etched into it and a blue gemstone fixed at its center. Just then, he spotted two more figures coming down the road, except these weren't monsters. He spotted a young man and woman about his age, a blonde girl in yellow and a dirty blonde boy wearing khaki shorts and a red open faced button up over a white t-shirt.

Alex halted and stared at the freakish scene unfolding in front of them while Julia took one look at the Pariah shadow monsters and yelped in fear as she grabbed her new friend's arm, "What's happening? What... are those things?"

"I don't know, but those guys are in trouble," Alex said trying to shake off the fear that was gripping his heart, "We have to do something."

Julia blinked in surprise, "What? Are you insane? Look at those things!"

She was probably right, but there was strength in numbers too. If they didn't try something now, those monsters would keep rampaging across the town and hurting others. Alex broke free and picked up a large tree branch that had fallen nearby. He took his improvised club and sprinted forward to help causing Julia to throw up her arms and reluctantly follow behind hoping she wouldn't have to drag anyone's bloody carcasses back to town. Jung watched as the boy in the red shirt threw his shoulder into one of the Pariahs like some football linebacker before he bashed aside another one that was clawing at the cloaked man. Alex gasped as he saw his club had broken on impact and hurried to help the man up. He froze when he saw the cloaked man's face and recognized him as a teacher from his school, "Mr. Sheppard? Are you okay?"

Will Sheppard stared in alarm at his student before grabbing him and whirling him around to dodge an enemy attack. Will parried aside one of the Pariah's claws and struck back in a riposte, swiftly cutting it down with his blade. "What are you doing here Alex?"

"What the... what are those things? And is that a freaking sword?"

The Skywarden ignited his blade with lightning energy and leveled it at the Pariahs in warning, "This isn't the time or place! You have to get out of here now!"

He growled as he saw the three fearful young people gather around him for protection while the monstrous foot soldiers closed in around them. Julia whimpered, "What do they want?"

"No idea. Maybe it has to do with these things?" Jung asked as he tossed her the yellow compass and Alex the red one.

Will's eyes went wide in alarm, "What are you doing? Don't touch those! You don't know what those are..."

It was too late. Whether it was the curiosity or the desperation of the three teenagers that took hold, he couldn't be sure. They flipped open the artifacts and the morphers began to resonate before detonating into a brilliant nimbus of colorful light.

* * *

**A/N: For any and all who are curious about further reading, here are is the list of authors and stories who are connected and contributing to the lore of this PR metaseries.**

**_My works_: Vanguard, Oceania, Hibernian Knights, Advent Horizon**

**_Stormasius_: Mythos, Occult Circle**

**_Blackvvater_: Kamen Rider Page**

**_Chibi Dawn23_: Power Rangers Storm Surge**

**PR: Infinity Faceclaim/Casting**

Alex Everett: Kevin Quinn

Jung Eun Kye: Cha Eun-woo

Julia Walker: Sophia Anne Caruso

Will Sheppard: David Giuntoli

Kara Bishop: Tabrett Bethell


	2. Prologue: Part 2

When the colorful light began to fade, the Skywarden stood in awe of the transformation that had taken place. In place of the three frightened teenagers who had been standing before him were brand new Power Rangers now awash with the runoff of radiant energy. They were colored red, blue, and yellow and clad in form fitting suits that at once looked to be flexible and light while having an armored type quality about them. The trim of the suits' mantles and the edges of the "armor" was colored white while a small sunburst star emblem was prominently placed on the Rangers' chests like some medallion or ornament to a breastplate. The Rangers' compass morphers had now become their belt buckle while a compact blade was sheathed at their sides. Like the suits, their helmets were color coded with white trim and dark visors which obscured their identities.

The three stood in stunned silence as Alex blinked and took a moment to recover from the incredible surge of power they were all feeling right now. Every cell in their bodies felt like they were buzzing with energy while their muscles felt stronger and their senses were heightened. The Blue Ranger Jung stared at his gloved hands for a moment, "Wow... I feel amazing."

"We look amazing!" Julia chimed in excitedly as she admired her yellow suit, "Check it out! I've kinda got the Captain Marvel look going on here... or maybe the Starforce? How cool is that?"

"Let's worry about these guys first before they make superhero movies about us," Alex suggested quickly as the Pariahs charged at them and attacked. Each of the Rangers split off and faced the Stygian foot soldiers with their new powers. Even as they moved, they noticed that they did so with almost superhuman speed and agility. Jung met his first attacker and blocked its swipe before rolling off the shadowbeast's arm. The Blue Ranger shifted his stance and counter-attacked with some of the Taekwondo he had learned when he was younger. The Pariah recoiled as its ribs were smashed by a hard side snap kick before it was sent flying by a follow-up roundhouse kick. As the monstrous soldier collapsed and evaporated into inky smoke, Jung gave a victorious cheer to nobody in particular, "Nice! Did you see that?"

Nearby, Will fended off another Pariah with his sword while Julia evaded strikes from her own foe's claws. Maybe it was her Ranger speed, but the Pariah's moves seemed so slow and telegraphed by comparison that even a klutz like her was able to dance rings around it. The Pariah growled in frustration as it lashed out again but the Yellow Ranger rolled clear with an acrobatic somersault and rebounded off a tree so that she could hit her enemy in the skull with a flying jump kick. The monstrous soldier flew backwards into the river and dissipated into smoke. Not far away, Alex was tangling with his own enemy as the monster pressed an aggressive attack.

The Pariah swiped at the Red Ranger with its claws and Alex nimbly dodged before getting in close. He slipped under the monster's guard and threw his elbow into the helm of the Pariah. It staggered back in a daze allowing Alex to follow up with a fierce uppercut into its jaw. Had the Ranger struck a normal human like that, he probably would have taken their head clean off, but the Pariah cracked its neck back into place and quickly recovered. It surprised the Ranger by reaching out with its long arms and grappling him with his claws. Will looked over to see his student struggling, pausing only to block the claws of his own enemy from behind the back without looking. The Skywarden turned his sword and whirled around, decapitating the Pariah with a swift slash and turning it to smoke. Will called out, "Alex! Look to your waist! The blade!"

The Red Ranger grappled against the crushing grip of the last Pariah before hearing his teacher's voice. He glanced down and saw the blade sheathed at his side. It looked like it was no bigger than a long dagger, but right now it was better than nothing. He grabbed the hilt with one hand and pulled the weapon free. To his surprise, the blade had suddenly become a full sized straight sword which had been deceptively compacted within the sheath. Maybe it was magic or a trick of the light? The Ranger didn't bother right now and wasted no time in counterattacking. He slashed the Pariah's forearms causing it to let him go and recoil with a pained shriek. Alex swung the blade again and clipped the Pariah across the chest leaving another smoking wound. The monster growled and charged forward again in a blind rage to try and get some revenge while the Ranger prepared to meet it by raising his sword in a high roof guard stance. The weapon caught the light of the setting sun and resonated, flaring with a vibrant red glow. The monster pounced and Alex brought his weapon down in a strike as if he were chopping wood with an axe.

The Pariah was bisected clean down the center and burst into a thick cloud of black wispy smoke. The Ranger blinked in surprise from the showdown before he and the other Rangers suddenly powered down. Their suits dissipated in a gentle shimmer of light and completely dispelled, leaving the three teenagers standing in silent awe and confusion over what just happened. Julia looked around the area to make sure there were no more monsters, "Umm... did that just happen?"

"There's no way this would have happened back home in Seoul," Jung remarked as he dusted himself off and made sure he wasn't too dirty and mussed from the fight.

Alex and Julia stared in silent disbelief at the foreign stranger before Alex looked to the blue cloaked Skywarden struggling to form a coherent question, "Mr. Sheppard? Why are you... and why is the... seriously, what the hell is going on here?"

Will looked around quickly and grimaced before regarding the three youths, "The three of you, come with me. I'll explain everything."

"What? And just who are you?" Julia asked suspiciously, "Alex? You know this guy?"

"Mr. Sheppard's an English teacher at our high school... or at least I thought he was," the Red Ranger admitted. Before this, he had always known Mr. Sheppard to just be a kindly mild mannered English teacher at his school, not some grim sword wielding wizard. "Whatever the case, it doesn't seem like we have much choice but to trust him right now."

He turned to his new Asian comrade, "What do you think? Err..."

"Just call me Jung," the Blue Ranger answered in a surprisingly composed way. He bent down and lifted up his mangled bicycle with a sigh, "It looks like I'm coming along too, whether I like it or not. Where are we going... Mr. Sheppard, was it?"

The Skywarden nodded and motioned for them to follow, "Someplace safe."

* * *

After a short hike, Will led the teenagers down a path that led into the a wooded forest preserve nearby the high school. It was starting to get dark and they followed Will deeper into the forest running parallel to the river a ways away. Even though he was a local, Alex was not all that familiar with this path and it only looked more foreign in the darkness. Julia walked close beside him looking apprehensive while Jung stoically brought up the rear as he walked his bike. They stopped at a spot and in the dim light, they watched as Will slowly swept his hands in front of him like he was brushing away a curtain. They were surprised as a magic ward seemed to be lifted and a tall stone tower appeared out of nowhere. It had a simple albeit elegant medieval design to it and it rose up over the treeline.

"Whoah... no way! I didn't know there was a tower here," Alex exclaimed as Will led them inside past a heavy wooden door. The Skywarden shut the front door and locked it, leading them into the central common area of the building that was surprisingly larger and more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

"And for good reason," Will said as he snapped his fingers and the room lit up from magical lanterns fixed along the walls and ceiling, "We like it better when regular people don't go poking around Skywarden outposts."

Jung looked around and couldn't help but be impressed at the comfortable decor. Colorful rugs blanketed the stone floor and the outpost had a warm and cozy feel with modest wooden furniture, bookshelves and tables. Near the center of the room was a comfortable looking couch and a metallic chandelier. Despite the arrangements, the place looked like it was dusty and not tended to all that often. "Umm... nice place you've got."

Will gave the new Blue Ranger a pointed look before he hung up his cloak and started a fire in the fireplace. "I'm afraid I don't entertain much. On the plus side, we should be safe here. The protective wards of this tower are incredibly powerful."

Julia sat down and looked at the strange golden compass device in her hand, "Is that what this is all about? Are these things what those monsters were after?"

Will glanced at the crackling fire and sighed. This was the first moment he had all day to stop and process everything. "I believe that is part of it, yes. Those monsters were after those new morphers."

"Hold the phone. Morphers?" Alex asked incredulously, "As in ones used by actual Power Rangers?"

Unless people were living under a rock, almost everyone knew about the vigilante heroes in multicolored suits known as Power Rangers. They were all over the world with some being known public figures while others continued to maintain their secret identities. They had often been involved in protecting other towns and cities from supernatural threats, but no one expected such a thing like this to happen here either. "Is that what those morphers turned us into back there?"

Will grimaced and sat down in an arm chair before giving a nod, "The High Council of my order had crafted those to prepare for a situation like this. I just didn't expect for it to happen so soon."

"So... you're some sort of wizard then?" Jung guessed.

"Something like that," Will admitted, "I belong to an ancient order of magic users called the Skywardens. We were founded to carry on the traditions of the great wizard Merlin; to preserve knowledge and to protect civilization from the supernatural threats of this world and beyond."

"Beyond?" Julia asked fearfully.

Will nodded solemnly, "There are many other supernatural races out there inhabiting their own unique worlds; the angels, the demons, the faerie courts to name a few."

"But they weren't the ones who attacked us just now, were they?" Alex asked.

"No. Those monsters come from the realm of shadows called Stygia," Will explained, "The darkness there used to be benign but it has been twisted and corrupted by a powerful witch... one calling herself Shemhazai."

The three teens sat quietly as Will continued, "Shemhazai was a fallen angel who had served in an ancient army of demons called the Cambion Legion. Maybe twenty something years ago, their demon lord Gideon was slain by a group of Power Rangers wielding Celestial powers, only Shemhazai was banished back into a hellish place called the Abyss.

"How did she escape?" Jung asked curiously.

Will shook his head, "We don't know exactly. Our order learned too late that she had somehow wound up on Stygia and seized the realm as her own. Since then, she's been hell bent on spreading darkness across the multiverse and swallowing every world she comes across."

"Why? What is she hoping to accomplish?" Alex asked with growing dread.

Will folded his hands with a pensive look, "I can't be certain, but my guess is it has to do with Confluence: the very heart of the worlds."

The three Rangers blinked in confusion and exchanged a puzzled look until Will explained, "You can think of Confluence as a point where all the power and roads to the universe converge in a single place. It's like the sun in the solar system, a place where all the light and energy that flows through the worlds comes from. Some of us believe it is the universal source of power for the Rangers of our world... what some others have called the Morphin Grid. If Shemazai gets a hold of that power, there's no telling what she could do. Maybe snuff out all life in the cosmos, or ascend to some sort of godhood?"

"Okay... well, can't you Skywardens just form an army or something and go stop her?" Julia asked.

"The majority of the order has been all but wiped out," Will answered darkly as he gripped the hand-rests of his chair, "Less than a day ago, we had been betrayed by one of our own and our headquarters was completely overrun. This is the last stronghold I can run to and you three are the best hope we have to fight back right now."

"Sorry... what?" Jung asked incredulously, "We barely knew what we were doing out there. Aren't there other more experienced Power Rangers who can deal with it?"

"I'm not sure we can count on them right now," the Skywarden explained, "It will take time to raise an alarm and gather help. Plus, these morphers have been specially crafted. They'll probably be the most effective weapons for fighting the Stygian forces. They were designed to tap into Confluence itself so that you can draw on the light of Creation and navigate through the dark."

Julia wrung her hands together, "Jung is right. We don't know how to swordfight, or throw magic spells around. Hell, I barely know my way around this town!"

"I can teach you three," Will offered gently, "I can't promise you'll be warriors overnight, but you'll have a fighting chance."

"You still sure you want to join the Avengers?" Alex quipped toward Julia earning him an elbow in the ribs. She paused when she looked to him again.

"Wait a minute... Alex, you're not serious here, are you? Are you really considering this crazy plan?"

The new Red Ranger clasped his hands and wore a conflicted look, "Believe me, the sane part of me is telling me, no... but if we don't do this then who else will? This is my hometown and I don't want to see other people I know and care about get hurt... not if I can help it."

Jung took a long moment to study his new comrade before giving a shrug, "I've never understood the way Americans love to rush in and face great odds. But I can respect courage and the desire to help your community."

"Does this mean you're in too?" Alex asked him, "I mean you were kind of dragged into all this. This isn't exactly your fight."

Jung shrugged and gave a ghost of a smile, "Maybe not, but this will still be my new home... plus, I owe you for coming to save me at the riverbank."

Alex gave a faint laugh and shook the newcomer's hand, "All right then. Glad to have you aboard."

The two male Rangers turned to the third, "How about it Julia? Are you with us?"

She hesitated and palmed her compass with the yellow jewel, "I mean, I know I said it would be cool to be a superhero and all, but now that I've heard all this..."

"I'd understand if you wanted to walk away," Will said gently, "I never wanted any of you to get pulled into this conflict and it's a lot to ask... of anyone."

Julia remained silent and thought things over, something she tended to do a lot when she wasn't tripping all over herself trying to interact with others. She had thought moving to a new town and adjusting to a new school would be difficult enough, but how often did things like this happen to a person either? She had hoped things would be different here... that maybe she'd find some fun adventure and actually make some friends. In a way, this was a perfect opportunity. Although she barely knew these two boys, she sensed that they were good people and that if she were to just let them face more of those shadow monsters alone, she'd feel guilty. She gripped her compass and finally gave a nod, "All right... I'l do it."

"Then it's settled," Will said crossing his arms, "We can start preparing tomorrow after classes are over."

Julia slapped her head and checked the time on her phone. She rose to her feet and exclaimed in alarm, "Oh shoot! That's right! We have school tomorrow... and it's already getting late!"

Alex and Jung exchanged a look and seemed to come to the same realization. They doubted they would get much sleep as it was tonight. Alex got up and waved his classmates on, "Come on. I don't live too far. I'll give you both a lift home."

Will watched the three students quickly depart the tower and once the door was closed, he pulled out his phone from his pants pocket. He had his own call to make and he dialed a number, waiting as he heard the call going through. He began to pace restlessly as he continued to wait, "Come on... come on... pick up."

He finally heard noise on the other end followed by a man's voice answering, "Hello?"

The Skywarden cleared his throat, "Hello, Dr. Gabriel Bishop?"

"Speaking. Who is this?"

Will took a deep breath and looked to the light of the crackling fireplace nearby, "Sorry to disturb you, sir. My name is Will Sheppard. My teacher Luis Alvarez was a friend and colleague of yours."

Dr. Bishop's voice seemed to warm a little, "Yes, all right. But I still don't understand what this is about."

"Well... I need your help, sir. I needed to talk to you most of all... about the Cambion Legion, and a demon named Shemhazai."


	3. School Daze

**Episode 1: Part 1**

The next morning, Julia Walker made her way through the wide well lit halls of Riverbrook High. Although it was in a smaller town, Julia couldn't help but notice how different the school was from her old one. RHS didn't look like a plain drab prison with uniform halls, lockers, and boring décor. She was also glad this place wasn't like a lot of the schools in Chicago's affluent northern suburbs either with their sprawling campuses and posh state of the art everything. RHS was nice enough and modest in a homey sort of way. By now, the main hallway was already bustling with students as she navigated through them trying to find her way to her homeroom class. Her head still felt like it was in a fog as she stopped to remove her glasses and rub some of the sleepiness away from her eyes. After the strange events of the prior evening, this wasn't the way she wanted to start her first day at a new school.

As a few loud obnoxious underclassmen walked by sharing a crude joke with each other, Julia looked around and spotted Alex at his locker gathering a few books before class started. Like her, he had dressed in jeans today but while she chose a casual yellow blouse, he opted for a sportier style with a red henley shirt. As he closed his locker, he saw her come over and greeted her with a nod. "Hey… you made it."

"Barely," she muttered as they began walking, "I had this wild dream yesterday night that I was attacked by these shadow monsters and became some kind of Power Ranger."

"Funny. I had the exact same dream," Alex quipped quietly, "Except the real life power morpher in my pocket keeps telling me otherwise."

The two new friends exchanged sympathetic looks before Alex shrugged, "So anyway… where are you headed?"

She handed him her schedule, "Homeroom is 215."

"Hey me too," he nodded, "Come on. I'll show you the way."

They headed up to the second floor and entered their first period classroom almost falling over in shock at who was there to greet them. Will Sheppard stood at the front of the class writing a few brief notes on the chalkboard. Unlike yesterday, he now seemed to be a completely different person in his civilian role. He had traded in his blue cloak and white Skywarden robes for a pair of gray slacks with a white dress shirt and a blue tie. He wore a pair of thin frame glasses and greeted the two students with a friendly smile, "Mr. Everrett. Miss Walker. Nice to see you again. Welcome."

"Err… thanks?" Julia answered giving an awkward little wave. The two Rangers were again surprised to find another familiar face sitting near the front of the room with two seats open near him. The Blue Ranger named Jung sat scribbling notes on a piece of paper. The foreign student was dressed in a preppy sort of style with dressy tartan slacks and a stylish button up shirt colored in white and blue. He looked up to offer them a polite nod, "Hello again. Alex and Julia, right?"

"What's up Jung?" Alex greeted him as he took a seat. "Uh… you're here early."

"What can I say? I was really looking forward to my first day of American school," Jung answered cheerfully.

"Mr. Sheppard's got to be behind all this," Alex muttered to himself while Julia peeked over curiously.

"What are you working on Jung? We haven't even gotten homework yet."

He offered his paper to Alex and answered with a hushed voice, "I was doing some thinking about last night. If we're going to be Power Rangers, we're going to need an identity, don't you think? I was coming up with some ideas."

Alex studied the paper and saw that Jung's ideas were written in English. In the margin, he scribbled a few other notes to himself in Korean characters, "Hmm… Power Rangers Infinity?"

Jung nodded proudly, "Mr. Sheppard said that these powers come from some infinite source of light, right? I think that's a pretty good name."

"Well… sure I guess," Alex conceded, "But about this battlecry? To Infinity and Beyond? Really?"

"Come on, what's wrong with that?" Jung protested with some confusion in his tone.

He was interrupted as a pair of attractive brunette girls walked over giggling. They wore the short skirts and blue and white uniforms of RHS cheerleaders, most likely for a school pep rally later that day. One of the girls brushed aside some of the ribbons in her hair and gave a faux sweet smile, "Hey Alex."

"Laura? Oh… hi!" Alex answered looking a little awkward and off balance in the presence of the junior captain of the varsity cheerleaders, "What's up?"

"Who's your new friend?" she asked looking Jung over in interest, "He looks like a k-pop star."

"My name is Jung Eun Kye," the Blue Ranger said with a smitten look as he ran a hand through his stylishly messy hair and politely offered his hand.

"He's actually new here from Korea and…," Alex began but the two girls seemed to completely brush off the Red Ranger.

"That's nice Alex," Laura's friend interrupted eyeing Jung with equal interest, "You're not with a boy band, are you? Because those guys are sooo hot."

"Ah… well, no… but…" Jung answered sheepishly while enjoying all the attention.

Julia sat rolling her eyes as she watched her two male friends act like puppy dogs. She shook her head and gave a disparaging sigh, "Oh, good grief…"

The cheerleaders slipped Jung a small slip of paper and walked off to take their seats. The door opened and two older adults walked in. One was an African American man in a gray suit while the other was a blonde fair featured woman in a long yellow skirt. Will turned and greeted the man with a respectful nod, "Principal Gaylyn? Good morning. What can I do for you?"

The school's principal gestured to the woman, "Mr. Sheppard, I know you're going to be busy today and I hate to ask, but do you think you can help orient one of our new History teachers during your free periods? No one in the Social Science department was available to help today."

Will nodded and offered a hand to the older woman, "Sure. Nice to meet you…"

"Mrs. Walker," she answered shaking his hand before she caught sight of Julia nearby. "Oh, Julie dear! There you are! I was looking for you this morning!"

Julia froze in horror as Alex, Jung, and several other students all turned to listen in.

The Yellow Ranger's face turned as red as Alex's shirt and she urgently tried to to ward her mother off, "Mom…"

Mrs. Walker came over and pulled a lunch bag from her large purse. She gave it to her daughter along with a kiss on the head too, "You silly goose. You were in such a daze this morning you completely forgot your lunch! Now have a nice day and try to make some new friends, okay?"

"Oh God… not after this," Julia moaned as she held her head in shame while the rest of the classroom laughed at her.

As Principal Gaylyn and Mrs. Walker left, Alex and Jung stifled their own laughter and offered sympathetic looks to Julia before Mr. Sheppard stepped in to help too, "All right, settle down class. Let's get started already. I've got some start of the year announcements to get through but before we do, I'd like to introduce you to two new students who will be joining us this year. Mr. Everrett, I'd like you to be in charge of showing them around okay?"

"Err… right. Sure thing," Alex sighed with a reluctant salute before Will gestured to the other Rangers.

"If you would, maybe give us your name and say a few words about yourselves?"

Jung stood up calmly and straightened his dress shirt in a dignified manner, "Good morning. My name is Jung Eun Kye and I'm from Korea. I like motorcycles, cooking, and I can't wait to try my first American hamburger in your cafeteria today!"

The class laughed in amusement while Alex quietly facepalmed before Julia stood up and nervously tried to stammer out her own greeting, "Uh… hi? I'm Julia and…"

This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Meanwhile in the dark realm of Stygia, the dark demigoddess Shemhazai took a leisurely walk through her grand stronghold, the Cathedral Oblivion. In some ways, she had fashioned her new home after the fortress of her old master Archangel Gideon. After all, she had once been an Empyrian angel and still favored the grand ostentatious designs of Celestial architecture. There was a heavy Gothic style influence with the stonework from the grand building's tall spires, its flying buttresses and clustered columns, to its vaulted ceilings and stained large glass windows. Despite being in a realm of perpetual shadow and gloom, the windows and the interior of the stronghold were lit by torches casting the ornate gilded decorations in a dim haunting light. In any other realm, the light streaming in would make this cathedral fortress look to be vibrant and filled with majesty. Instead, this place looked more like it was the site of a dark somber funeral.

After having been trapped for so long in the Abyss, Shemhazai did not much mind the aesthetics and had learned to embrace it. She stopped to admire a statue of a petrified foe from another realm. The victim's face was twisted in agonized terror making the sadistic witch smile a little. Behind her, two small servile shadows walked carrying the train of her long black flowing dress which was made of inky darkness. Without turning her visored head, the witch acknowledged the new arrival in her presence, "What news do you bring General?"

The treacherous warrior known as Noctis stood at attention and gave a respectful bow of his head, "My Queen, your shadows are continuing to spread across the Outer Realms as planned. Soon we will be able to penetrate into the larger worlds… like the Faerie Realm, or Earth."

"Good," Shemhazai nodded as she continued to walk slowly, "And what of your other project?"

Noctis grimaced, "We are still trying to get the wardens' power morphers. We believe we know where they are. Our scouting party just ran into… complications."

"Hmm… interesting," Shemhazai smirked with a thoughtful tone, "I take it you will have things under control soon?"

"Yes, my queen," Noctis answered quickly, "I've already dispatched one of the elite warriors from your cloister. He is very loyal and will not fail."

"See that he doesn't," Shemhazai said offhandedly, "I have more important things to worry about."

Noctis tilted his head in curiosity, "Bringing more followers into your fold?"

The witch shook her head, "No, something much bigger. I want to reach Confluence itself."

"The other Rangers of Earth will try to stop you," Noctis warned her in a hesitant voice.

"Oh I expect them to," Shemhazai said in amusement, "But I've got a plan for that. All I need is time."

Shemhazai had always been a crafty and cunning sort who wasn't afraid to use deception and treachery to achieve her goals. If she had been more scrupulous, she would not have risen up to her exalted position from seemingly nothing. Whatever her plan was, General Noctis was right to be fearful as it would certainly be devastating to her enemies. Of that, he had no doubt in his mind.

* * *

At the end of the school day, Alex, Jung, and Julia returned to Will's classroom to officially begin their duties as new Rangers. By now, the classroom had cleared out and Will took a moment to straighten up some papers in his desk for grading. Jung crossed his arms and gave a thoughtful sigh to himself, "As neat as this training sounds, I wasn't quite expecting for this to become my new extra-curricular activity after school. I'm hoping I can still join the cooking club."

"Well, you might not be able to put it on a resume for college, but we need to make sure the college still exists in the end, right?" Will asked, "Think of it as an extra P.E. class."

"Great," Alex mumbled, "Once football season starts up, I'm going to be dead tired."

"What? You didn't tell us you were on the team," Julia said in surprise.

"Very cool!" Jung exclaimed in excitement, "I've always wanted to see a live football game too! You'll be with the varsity this year?"

"Well… yes," Alex answered sheepishly, "But I'm still on the second string as a bench warmer."

Will chuckled from nearby, "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself Alex. As far as wide receivers go, you're not half bad."

"When I'm not serving as a tackling dummy," the Red Ranger groused before turning to Julia, "You didn't tell us your mom was working here either."

She shrugged, "Well I was kinda hoping to keep that on the down low but so much for that, I guess."

"Hmm, I actually thought she was a nice lady," Will chimed in again, "Really smart too."

"Not helping Mr. Sheppard," Julia grumbled, "How about we change the subject? Like about our new… job?"

Their teacher nodded, "Right. So, if we're going to be fighting this new supernatural threat, we're going to have to understand what we're up against first. That's why I called in some help."

There was a knock at the door and two people entered. One was an older graying man maybe in his late fifties. He was well dressed and looked like a college academic with nice slacks, a white dress shirt and a dark blazer. With him was a tall beautiful woman who looked to be in her early to mid thirties. She had fair features and was dressed in dark slacks, with a white blouse. Her blonde hair was tied up in a neat ponytail accented by a gold necklace she wore around her neck.

Will stared slack jawed at her for a moment before regaining his composure and gesturing to the man, "Everyone, this is Dr. Gabriel Bishop from Hyperion Falls University in Colorado, along with…"

"Kara Bishop," the woman supplied offering her hand in a polite business-like manner, "His cousin and work associate."

As Will shook Kara's hand, Julia looked to Dr. Bishop, "Wait a minute… I've heard of you. My mom has some of your books! You're that guy who's studied all that supernatural stuff and discovered Atlantis! And worked with a group of Power Rangers!"

"The very ones who helped defeat the demon Shemhazai many years ago," Bishop nodded gesturing to Kara, "Why, you've got a Vanguard Ranger right here."

The three teens sat in shocked silence before Jung started doing some math in his head and looking at Kara in confusion, "Wait a second Ms. Bishop… shouldn't you be sorta…"

"Old?" Kara laughed gently while Alex elbowed Jung in the ribs, "One of the benefits of being half-angel, I guess."

The three teenage Rangers silently gawked again before Dr. Bishop spoke up, "Your teacher Mr. Sheppard chose a good time to call me. I was visiting some family here in Chicago when I heard about the attack on the Citadel. One of the senior Skywardens lost there was an old colleague and friend of mine… the same one who mentored Mr. Sheppard here."

Will winced slightly before looking to the two visitors, "The reach of Stygia is already spreading across the realms at an alarming rate and we need to mount a defense here. You had both fought Shemhazai and the Cambion demons before. I hoped you might be able to help us."

"I'm afraid that help will be a little limited," Dr. Bishop admitted, "From what you've told me, it seems Shemhazai has been able to harness and control the darkness of Stygia using her demonic magic.

"So… can't you guys just go and blast those shadow beasts back to kingdom come or whatever?" Alex asked hopefully.

Kara shook her head, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Celestial weapons and magic is specifically meant to destroy demons and their ilk, Those powers can also fight the Stygian monsters but it won't be nearly as effective as powers like yours which draw on the light of Creation, straight from Confluence itself."

"No doubt Shemhazai's magic has evolved too," Bishop added, "I'm going to study the glyphs that Mr. Sheppard gave me so we can figure out a way to counter it. That, and I plan to start spreading the alarm to other Rangers we know."

"What about in the mean time?" Kara asked, "These kids have to learn to defend themselves."

Bishop nodded, "Very true. I understand Mr. Sheppard here is knowledgeable in magic and swordplay, but even he will need some help. I'd like you to stay here and help train these kids too. You've done it once before."

The Gold Vanguard Ranger grimaced slightly, "I suppose I could… but what about everything back home?"

"The other Rangers and I will take care of that for you," Bishop reassured her.

"And where am I supposed to stay?" Kara asked crossing her arms, "Unless you want to pay my rent for a place here too?"

Will gave a pensive look and shrugged, "I guess you could always crash at the Watchtower. There's plenty of room there."

Kara raised an eyebrow and gave a skeptical look before finally relenting. She looked back to Bishop, "All right. Only because they're fellow Rangers and you're asking me to Gabe."

"All right! Glad that's all settled," Alex said clapping his hands together and rising from his seat, "Now, let's call it a day and…"

"Not so fast Mr. Everrett," Will said grabbing his student's shirt by the scruff of the neck, "Boot camp just started."

"I think with a little time I can whip these three into shape," Kara added with a thoughtful smirk.

Julia and Jung exchanged a queasy glance with each other before Will let go of Alex and clapped him on the back, "On the plus side, you're about to make good use of your experience as a tackling dummy, right?"

"Aww man!"


	4. Force of Will

**Episode 1: Part 2  
**

The next afternoon, the three new Rangers returned to the Skywarden watchtower in the forests near the school. They were accompanied by Mr. Sheppard and when they arrived, they found their other teacher waiting outside. Kara Bishop had dressed down to some workout clothes and cleared an area near the tower to serve as a makeshift training ground. The Gold Vanguard Ranger immediately put them to work warming them up with calisthenics before showing them the proper form for some basic kicks and punches. Once they seemed ready, she let them practice a set routine on their own while she kept an eagle eye on their form.

"I wish I knew what I signed up for," Julia panted as she punched the air and followed it up with a basic snap kick, "P.E. was never one of my favorite classes to begin with."

"Tell me about it," Jung huffed as the Rangers continued the routine. The three moved in sloppy unison and shifted into a blocking stance before kicking again, "At least our drill sergeant looks like a fitness model."

"Tighten that stance and keep your kicking leg straight, Jung!" Kara called out sharply. "That group shift looked awful. Do it again."

The three teenagers grumbled and started their routine all over again while Will and Kara watched from the sidelines. As they did, Kara gave an idle sigh, "Hmm. It's hard to imagine Tyler and Gabby were like that once."

"Your kids?" Will asked curiously but Kara shook her head.

"My adopted nephew and niece who have also served as Rangers now… time has certainly flown by."

She went quiet for a moment before speaking again, "What about you? Do you have a family of your own?"

The warden shook his head this time, "I'm a teacher. My students are my kids."

"I think I can relate there Mr. Sheppard," Kara said giving a sympathetic look.

He waved it off and offered a hand, "No need to be so formal. Call me Will."

She looked at him and shook his hand with a nod, "Kara."

Before he could speak again, she began barking out toward the Rangers, "Pick up the pace Julia! The monsters aren't going to slow down for any of you!"

They continued to watch the Rangers train until Kara spoke again idly, "Don't get me wrong. I love my adopted Ranger family, but I also know what it's like to be too busy for any kind of personal life either. There's always some new threat."

Will gave a rueful snort, "Agreed. Even if I wanted to, my duties as a Skywarden don't leave me much time for dating anyway."

"About that… I'm sorry to hear about your order," Kara nodded quietly, "I'm honestly surprised that you seem to be dealing with all this so well."

A dark shadow crossed Will's features, "Believe me, that's not the case... or maybe it hasn't fully sunk in yet. There's part of me that wants to mourn for my fellow wardens, but now is not the time."

"Because your job is to deal with the Stygians and train these Rangers," Kara chimed in.

He nodded, "Yeah. It's what they would have wanted, so that's what I'm going to focus on right now."

* * *

A little while later, the three Rangers were given a short break after another round of conditioning exercises. Despite being in better shape than his two teammates, even an athlete like Alex was a little winded. The three friends sat on a fallen tree log drinking some water as Will came over to offer some instruction. By now, he shed his English teacher persona and looked a bit more serious. He had put his glasses away and rolled up his shirt sleeves, "All right Rangers, Miss Bishop has started you off with some basics for self defense. It's important to know how to fight with your fists and your feet, but there's another element to it too."

He extended his hand and there was a bright flare of light. When the teens cleared their eyes, they saw their teacher was holding a plain silver straight sword without a crossguard, much like the ones that had been sheathed at the Rangers' sides when they had morphed. Kara watched with interest as Will deftly twirled the summoned blade, then handled it with practiced ease.

"This is a Prism Sabre, the weapon of the Skywardens. It's forged from light and serves as a natural extension of your own fighting spirit. With the proper training, I will teach you how to summon your own at will and use its powers."

He brought his blade toward some light that was streaming down from the treetops, "In time, you can go from something like this... to something even better. Oathkeeper, be my strength!"

There was another flash of blue colored light as the warden called his weapon's name and revealed its true form and power, a shimmering katana-like sword that pulsed with ambient thunder energies.

Julia and Jung both wore impressed looks and gave some quiet applause.

"Question," Alex piped up, "We aren't wizards. We can't do magic or conjure weapons by ourselves."

"Not until now," Will corrected him, "In an intuitive way, your morphers should be able to help you draw on the light when you need it, just like the way we Skywardens do."

Julia stared at her compass morpher, "So we really can do magic with these things now?"

"Those morphers will help you channel the ambient energy of Confluence, just as your blade will help you focus those powers in battle."

"Oh, I think I've seen this in a movie," Jung said taking up a twig and giving it a swish and flick, "So like the way Harry Potter uses his magic wand?"

Will and Kara exchanged a bemused look with each other before the warden waved it off, "Err... sort of. Remember that the power of Confluence, or the Morphing Grid flows through everything. That is what allows Power Rangers to do their amazing superhuman feats or for magic users to weave together ambient energy into spells."

"Hmm. Sounds more like using the Force to me," Alex quipped as he waved a hand by Julia's face and made her laugh, "Can we do Jedi mind tricks too? These are not the Power Rangers you're looking for."

Will gave a patient expression and pointed his blade toward the ground causing a few faint crackles of electricity to zap the dirt and startle the teens, "First thing's first. If you three are done clowning around, how would you like to morph and get started… my young Padawan learners?"

The three Rangers hesitantly got up and did as they were told. They activated the morphers and felt the same rush of energy wash over them before they were clad in their respective Ranger suits once more.

Will nodded and crossed his arms, "All right. Draw your blades and we'll try to call your weapons."

The Rangers drew their standard straight swords and held them out. Will began to pace around them slowly, "Good. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus. In the Skywarden tradition of practicing magic, you must to be disciplined. Clear your mind and focus your will."

Kara continued to look on in curiosity as the three teens stood with their swords outstretched but nothing was happening. Will didn't seem bothered as he continued to pace, "Reach out with your senses and try to feel that power around you... flowing through you."

He must have been talking about the ambient power that all Rangers drew on, Kara thought to herself. She had grown so accustomed to it, that it was easy to forget how the feeling was like second nature to her. Will continued to gently urge his students on, "That power is flowing through your weapon and through you. Can you sense the unique way it's linking your weapon to your heart? Can you hear what your weapon is saying? What it is? Who it is?"

He stopped and stared in hopeful wonder when he noticed a faint shimmering of red, blue, and yellow light around the Rangers' swords. Was it possible they'd actually be able to do it on their first attempt? The twinkling continued for another moment before it faded away.

"Did it work?" Julia asked as she opened her eyes and looked in disappointment at the plain sword that was still in her hand.

"I'm afraid not," Will sighed while gesturing to Kara, "But we can try again later… after your next round of combat drills."

He could swear he almost heard the sounds of their groans echoing through the woods in reply.

* * *

A few days passed and the first school week of the year had begun to wind down. Fortunately, there was little in the way of homework and studying which the new Rangers were grateful for. They were still getting adjusted to their rigorous after-school class of Power Rangering 101. On that late Friday afternoon, the three friends stopped in a small outdoor café in downtown Riverbrook. They decided to get some snacks and well deserved relaxation before going home. While they sat, they continued looking over Jung's suggested list of Ranger ideas.

Jung massaged the muscles of his thighs as he sat at the table, "Damn. I always thought my old Taekwondo classes were tough, but my leg has been cramping off and on all day."

"You're not kidding," Alex grumbled as he gingerly rubbed his backside, "I think Miss Bishop broke my tailbone in three different places when we were practicing throws earlier. That woman is freakishly strong... and she has lightning fast reflexes."

The two boys stopped when they noticed Julia had been silent. The Yellow Ranger remained quiet as she sipped from a can of Dr. Pepper, lost in thought. Alex looked over in concern. "Uh… hey Jules. You okay over there?"

She blinked in surprise and gave a sigh, "Oh… sorry. I was just worried about something. I was thinking about how we might be letting Mr. Sheppard down."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jung asked in surprise.

Julia wrung her hands and lowered her voice a little, "Well… combat training and exercise is one thing, but we've been practicing all week and we haven't been able to summon our weapons or do anything magical."

"Well… we've only been at it for a week," Jung pointed out, "I'm sure all that wizard stuff takes years of study, right?"

"Maybe... but we don't have years to study," Julia protested as she began to fly into a nervous rant, "What if one of those shadow monsters attacks and we can't call our weapons? How would we even hope to beat it? What if we can't summon our weapons because we're not worthy? How do we even know we're cut out to be Power Rangers in the first place? What if this was all just a big mistake? What if…"

"That's a lot of what-ifs Jules," Alex interrupted gently, "I'm sure Mr. Sheppard and Miss Bishop wouldn't be pushing us so hard if they didn't think we could it."

"Easy for you to say. You were the one who kind of talked us into this," Jung said, "Just sayin…"

Alex frowned indignantly, "Hold on a second, I didn't force anyone to do this either. I volunteered and so did the rest of you!"

As the two boys began to quietly squabble over the point, Julia waved her hand to break it up, "Hey, zip it you two! I just thought of something. Remember when we were fighting those monsters by the river? Alex, you killed one of those things with some special sword attack. Do you remember how you did that?"

"Err… no. Not really," the Red Ranger admitted in an apologetic tone, "It was all just kinda spur of the moment. I was acting on pure instinct there."

Julia scratched her chin, "Maybe being in some kind of heightened emotional state can help jumpstart us there."

"Heightened emotional state, huh?" Alex quipped, "Well, we're teenagers. How hard can that be?"

He suddenly felt Jung tug at his sleeve and point toward a small crowd of people screaming and fleeing in terror. The three friends jumped to their feet and rushed in the opposite direction to find the source of the chaos. They skidded to a halt when they came across a large shadowy being who was terrorizing a group of civilians running for cover. It was clear the monster was a Stygian warrior, only this one did not look like the lowly Pariah soldiers they had fought before. This monster wore dull gray armor plates over its inky black body and had a glowing Cambion sigil etched into its faceless helm. From the neck of the armored Stygian, a few long tendrils of wispy shadows fluttered about making it look like they radiated from some kind of living scarf.

It stopped when it saw the teens and laughed in a raspy voice, "There you are. You're the children I was looking for. I can see the light just glowing off of you."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jung demanded.

"I am Gloomweaver, loyal Cenobite to the Divine Empress of Stygia," the monster answered, "You have something that she wants. Give me those morphers and you may yet live."

The three young people exchanged a hesitant look and gathered their courage. Of course they were afraid, but they were Rangers now and they knew what had to be done. Alex clenched his fists and stepped forward, "Listen up you freak. You want our answer? How about no deal!"

"What a pity. Enjoy your short lives while you can," the monster answered as his shadowy tendrils of his collar flared up and lashed out at the Rangers.

The three reflexively reached for their morphers and activated them, sounding their new call, "Infinity morphers! Break the Limit!

Gloomweaver's tendrils were repulsed by the sudden burst of prismatic light and the new Rangers emerged ready for battle.

_"Blazing Valor, Infinity Red!"_

_"Glowing Pride, Infinity Blue"_

_"Brilliant Wisdom, Infinity Yellow!"_

The three chorused as they gathered together and felt their confidence rising, "From Darkness into Light. Power Rangers Infinity!"

"I don't care who you are," the shadow snarled as he attacked, "I'll tear those morphers off your arms if I have to!"

The three tumbled clear and tried to evade the monster's opening rush. Unlike the regular troops, this looked to be some kind of elite warrior who was stronger and smarter than the rest. Alex dodged the enemy's first swipes and stopped the next blow with a forearm block. The two other Rangers moved in and attacked from the flanks hoping to catch the Cenobite in a pincer attack but the monster surprised them with its wispy living scarf. The shadowy appendages stopped Jung's kick and Julia's punch and coiled tightly around their limbs to throw them off balance. With a flick of his neck, Gloomweaver whipped the Blue and Yellow Rangers around so that they collided into Alex and knocked them over.

The stunned Rangers scrambled to their feet but were each whipped down again by a painful lashing strike of the monster's wispy collar. Alex grunted and got up again reaching for his sidearm, "All right... I've had enough of you. Prism Sabre!"

He drew his blade and moved forward to counterattack as his two comrades followed suit and joined in the rally. Gloomweaver took a defensive stance and met the Red Ranger's attack, deflecting his slashes away with his scarf. Although the sword of light could not slice through the wisps, Alex managed to hack aside the tendrils and allow his friends an opening to attack. Both Jung and Julia swept in and each struck a resounding blow with their swords but the blades did little damage against the Cenobite's armor. Amid the cloud of sparks, Gloomweaver blocked their next swings with his armored gauntlets and pushed the swords aside.

Before the Rangers could react, the shadow whipped his coils around and struck them all back with another whipping attack. As they lay on the ground seeing stars, the three Rangers felt the black ribbons snake over and coil around their necks. Gloomweaver laughed as he lifted the three up with his tendrils of dark energy and began to choke the life out of them. "What a worthless bunch. I should have expected that a bunch of children would be so easily defeated."

The Rangers desperately struggled as they tried to break free of the monster's choking grasp. Their swords had been ineffective against the fiend and they knew they were clearly outclassed. No one else was there to help making it clear the Rangers had to do this on their own. They needed something more and they knew they couldn't let Mr. Sheppard down either. In that desperate moment, the three reached out with their senses and tried communing once more with the power that sustained them... from Confluence and the Morphing Grid itself. From each of their hearts, the delerious Rangers began to hear faint echoing whispers as vague shapes of weapons took forms in their minds. Whether it was the monster's choking grip, or the power of the Morphing Grid, it was hard to tell as the images grew brighter and the voices became clearer.

Gloomweaver stopped a moment and recoiled in pain as his dark coils were suddenly seared away, freeing the Rangers, "What? No! How is this happening?"

In another burst of light, the three Rangers broke free of the coils as they channeled their light through the Prism Sabres and transformed them into greater forms. Each Ranger gripped their new weapon as they spoke its true name and trigger word.

"Ignite, Parhelion!" Alex called as he took up a brilliant spear of golden light with a sun motif at the base of the spearhead.

"Dance, Noble Crest!" Jung answered as he gave a flashy kick and and assumed a fighting stance, girded in majestic silver greaves and gauntlets.

"Soar, Skybreaker!" Julia finished as she wielded an ornate shimmering bow with a string of golden light that formed a nocked arrow for her.

The Stygian Cenobite stumbled backward in alarm, "What? What are those things?"

"Exactly what we need to take you down!" Alex answered with a grin as he charged forward with his spear, "Rangers?"

Gloomweaver tried to block the first spear slash with his armor and scarf but the Red Ranger's strike hacked through it with an arc of light in the air. Despite his lack of formal training, Alex intuitively wielded the spear and hammered his foe with whirling strikes and thrusts, before pulling his enemy right into Jung. The Blue Ranger pounced and unleashed a flurry of lightning fast kicks and punches that blinded the shadow and cracked its armor even further. As Jung deflected away a feeble strike, he sent the Cenobite reeling with a devastating tornado kick, directly into Julia's line of fire. The Yellow Ranger planted her feet and drew back the bowstring taking aim. Before the monster could even recover its wits, it turned and saw that it was too late.

Julia's arrow flared as she let loose her shot and the bolt of light went clean through the Stygian warrior's head. Its body collapsed backward and as soon as it hit the pavement, it exploded into a cloud of fire and flames. She lowered her bow and stared in amazement at what they had just done before her other two friends gangpiled her. Alex laughed aloud as he picked her up for a moment in a giddy hug, "Damn! Way to shoot there Hawkeye! Right through the skull!"

The Yellow Ranger giggled from the adrenaline rush and gave Jung a big high-five when she was back on her feet, "Thanks! That was... well... awesome!"

At that moment, they heard police sirens nearing and Jung grabbed his comrades by the wrists, "As much as I'd like to celebrate and give more back pats, I think we need to go!"

'Jung is right," Julia nodded as she looked at her new bow, "But... what are we going to tell Mr. Sheppard and Miss Bishop?"

"How about we surprise them tomorrow," Alex winked mischievously before taking off down the street, "Now come on! Let's get outta here!"

* * *

Early the next afternoon, the Rangers gathered together at the edge of the riverside forest preserve to report in and get some extra weekend practice. As they headed down the familiar shaded path, they enjoyed the warm light of the sun streaming from the treetops as well as the songs of the birds along the way. They continued on a short ways and were surprised to see their own teacher walking along just up ahead. He was dressed down to a plaid blue shirt over casual khakis and he looked to be carrying two large brown paper bags.

"Hey Mr. Sheppard!" Julia called giving a cheerful wave as they hurried over to greet him.

Will stopped and turned in surprise, "Hi everyone. Umm… what are you three doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you until Monday."

"Oh… well we had a surprise for you, but it can wait till we get to the tower," Jung said evasively, "Let's just say we were all feeling motivated and decided to get in a little extra Ranger practice too. Though, we didn't expect to see you here this early."

"He's right," Alex nodded in agreement before giving their teacher a curious look, "What's in the bag, Teach?"

"Oh, this?" Will said as they continued walking, "I figured I'd pick up some supplies for Kara and drop them off. You know… groceries, cleaning supplies, that sort of stuff."

The two boys exchanged a look and shrugged while Julia adjusted her glasses with an amused smirk, "Kara? You're on a first name basis with Miss Bishop now?"

Will gave the Yellow Ranger a mild frown and kept walking, "I'm just being a welcoming neighbor. I'm sure having to hole up in the Watchtower is a little bit of a pain already and…"

"And I think she's making the best of it," Jung piped up as they reached the base of the tower and found the front door open. Kara stood in her own kick-around weekend clothes, a short white t-shirt and distressed jeans with a yellow bandana tied in her hair making her look very… not intimidating. She held a broom in her hands and was busy brushing off leaves and dust from the front walkway. She looked up and greeted them all with a polite nod.

"Hello Will. Rangers. This is a nice surprise."

"We could say the same Miss Bishop," Julia said as she looked around the front yard of the tower, "The place looks nice!"

"Thanks! Since I'm going to be rooming here for a while, I figured I'd help clean the place up a bit," the veteran Ranger said thoughtfully, "There's still a lot of work to do, but it's a start."

Alex nudged his teacher prompting Will to offer the two grocery bags, "Right. We also thought this stuff would help you get settled in."

"That's very kind. Thank you," Kara said taking the bags and leading them inside. Let me put this stuff away."

When they walked inside, they were surprised to find the central common room had undergone a bit of a transformation as well. Furniture had been moved and everything looked dusted and cleaned. Here and there, they saw some stylish vases with flowers, sky blue drapes, a few whimsical knickknacks on the end tables, along with some colorful decorative pillows on the couch. Will paused and stared in mild alarm, "What the…"

"I found an old storage cellar and pulled some stuff out for the common room. I hope you don't mind," Kara called from the kitchen down the hall.

"A feminine touch never hurts! Oh, it looks a whole lot cuter!" Julia grinned as she admired some of the decorative flowers and knickknacks that had been placed on some shelves around the room.

"It's an outpost. It's not supposed to look… cute," Will muttered in dismay.

"Dude. You gave a chick the keys to your place. What did you think was going to happen?" Alex giggled quietly while Jung simply laughed in agreement.

The Skywarden simply shook his head and sighed as the curious Rangers began poking around the room some more. Will's own mentor had once told him that he would eventually be taking up more responsibility in the order and training novice Skywardens. This wasn't quite what he had been expecting, but given these extraordinary circumstances, he supposed it could have been a whole lot worse.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**I know the chapter ran a little longer than usual but I had a lot to cover here and I'm sure you all don't mind some extra content. ;)**

**Thanks again to everyone who's been reading and following so far!**


	5. Recipe for Disaster

**Episode 2: Part 1**

It had been a week since the newly christened Infinity Rangers of Riverbrook had won their first official victory against a Stygian monster. Despite the start of the school year, the three young Rangers were in high spirits as they adjusted to their new roles within the much greater supernatural struggle around them. For now at least, the Rangers were enjoying the relative peace and calmness that had settled in over the town. On that particular morning, the skies were clear and bright and the air was growing cooler from the arrival of the autumn season.

Alex Everrett sat drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his old red Chevy Cruze as he waited outside Jung's house. Since befriending his two new teammates that lived nearby, the Red Ranger had gotten in the routine of picking them up in the morning so they could all ride to school together. "What's taking him so long? He's always been early."

"Maybe he overslept?" Julia guessed as she gave him a shrug from the passenger seat.

Alex turned off the ignition and opened the car door, "Hmm. If that's the case, what do you say we give Jung a little wakeup call?"

The two got out of the car and headed past the well manicured lawn until they reached the front walk of the house. They rang the doorbell and waited a few moments until the door opened and Jung emerged. Much to their surprise, they found the Blue Ranger wearing a blue cooking apron over his dress shirt and jeans. On the apron were some food stains suggesting that he had been busy in the kitchen. He greeted his two friends and quickly pulled them inside, "Alex! Julia! You two are just in time. Come on in!"

"Jung, what's going on? Why aren't you dressed yet? We have to get going to school pretty soon," Julia protested as he led them toward the kitchen.

"Sorry guys. I was preparing lunch for everyone this morning and I got some great new ideas for a few dim sum recipes," he explained, "I guess I got caught up in my work and completely lost track of time."

Alex and Julia were led to the kitchen table where Jung has several cooking baskets and plates with various soups and dumplings. They had known their friend had voiced an interest in cooking, but they didn't know he was this enthusiastic. It certainly looked and smelled appetizing. They were handed some plates with samples on them and Alex studied the wares, "Looks good man. What are we eating?"

"Those little dumplings are a new original recipe," Jung said proudly, "There's jackfruit, barbecue pork, and little bit of kimchi in it."

The two Americans popped it in their mouths and chewed thoughtfully before Julia's eyes lit up, "Oh wow... Jung, these are actually really tasty. You're a pretty good cook! You ever think of becoming a chef?"

Jung rubbed the back of his neck modestly, "Ah... well, growing up I've always looked over my mom's shoulder in the kitchen so the thought has crossed my mind. There's only issue..."

Just then, Jung's father walked in to the kitchen and looked around. He was a middle aged man with graying hair and a bit of a serious air about him, matched by the dark expensive suit and tie he wore. Jung had told his friends that his father worked in the city as a branch manager of a big insurance company and he looked like he was headed off to work soon. He greeted Alex and Julia politely before giving his son a slightly disapproving look, "Jung, what are you still doing here? Get dressed and get ready for school. You don't want to be in a rush if you have any tests or quizzes today."

"Okay. Sorry Dad," Jung sighed handing him his lunch, "Oh, before you go... I wanted to ask you something. I'd like to sign up for the cooking club at school and the registration deadline is coming up. There's an activity fee and..."

Mr. Kye shook his head, "No Jung. We've been over this. You're not going to waste your time and money with an activity like that. Why don't you pick something that will look better on a college resume instead? After all, education is all about getting the best highest paying job you possibly can, right? Maybe pick a club that will help you be a businessman like your uncle and I?"

Alex and Julia exchanged a silent look as they watched Jung deflate and head off to grab his backpack with a defeated sigh, "Yes sir. I'll think about it."

* * *

Amidst the swirling gloom of the Cathedral Oblivion, the self appointed queen of Stygia held court. Queen Shemhazai sat upon her lavish cathedra chair and watched as her Stygian minions offered her tribute from some realms that had recently fallen under the sway of her shadowy powers. Lining the path to her dais stood several higher ranking Stygians. Unlike the common Pariah footsoldiers who were bound spirits placed in monstrous forms, the regular people of the shadowy world were very humanoid in appearance save for their pale white skin, dark sallow features, and generally sullen demeanors. Several elite soldiers in black armor kept watch while Shemhazai's bishops and religious functionaries stood by, waiting to attend to the whims of their demi-goddess.

As the demonic witch waved away the latest box of expensive tribute plundered from a conquered world, she sat up and regarded her chief general with interest as he stepped forward to give his latest report. Noctis bowed his head which remained obscured in his menacing draconic helmet. When he raised his head, he spoke reverently, "My Queen. We've made progress and continue to push toward toward the heart of the multiverse. We expect several tens of thousands to convert to your worship already... that you may grow in strength."

"Good," Shemhazai said as she crossed her legs, "And what of these new Infinity Rangers I hear of?"

Noctis winced, "They continue to resist and they surprised the Cenobite you had sent. I'm afraid we haven't spread far enough into the central realms and that limits the power of your followers there. "

The demon queen sneered with her lips in slight irritation before slowly relaxing her features. She spoke in a slow deliberate voice, "Very well General. Send another warrior from the cloister. Make sure they can do the job this time."

"Of course," Noctis bowed, "I believe I know the perfect one to send next."

* * *

Later that week, the three Infinity Rangers met at the Watchtower and began their daily after school training regimen. Now that they were officially Rangers, the three donned some Skywarden training uniforms that Will had dug out of storage. In many ways, the uniform pants and top resembled a martial arts gi and they were dyed in the gray color of Skywarden novices. It was unlikely they'd ever see the white colored garbs and the royal blue cloaks of the full fledged wardens, but they felt they were still helping to keep the order alive and working toward something.

Today the Rangers practiced their swordsmanship with Will as he led them through the movements of several sword katas. In place of their Prism Sabres, the Rangers used wooden training swords and moved at a slow speed to memorize the movements. As they moved in a line, Kara Bishop joined them following along with the routine and keeping watch from the opposite end. Once they had finished the latest kata, Will faced the Rangers and raised his weapon in a challenge. By Kara's estimation, his stance was similar to that of a kendo practitioner, "All right. Now it's time to put into practice what I've shown you. Who will step up first?"

All three of the teens hesitated before Will looked over to the Blue Ranger, "Jung, step up. Show me your attack."

Jung squared off and raised his guard, trying to gather his courage to strike. After a long pause, Jung sprung forward and attacked with the newest combination Will had taught them, leading with a light thrust followed by a blocking motion and a slash. The Skywarden stood in place and met the attack, easily deflecting the blows away with little effort. Will shifted his weight slightly and caught Jung off balance, knocking him back with a little well placed counter slash.

"You're not attacking aggressively enough Jung," Will said as they reset their stances. "If you're going to come at me, do it like you mean it."

"I don't want to accidentally hurt you," he answered.

From the sidelines, Kara shook her head in disapproval, "This may be training, but Shemhazai's warriors will not show you the same kind of mercy in battle. You should not get too used to pulling your punches."

"Isn't that attitude a little harsh, even for a Power Ranger?" Julia asked, feeling a little intimidated by the Gold Ranger.

Kara regarded the three students with a stern look, "Even so. When you three are faced with a life or death battle, then you have to rid yourselves of your uncertainty. Set aside your weak feelings and focus solely on what you have to do."

Will nodded in agreement and raised his wooden sword toward Jung, "Again."

Jung reluctantly charged again and was knocked down by his instructor. In a flash, Jung's sword was knocked out of his hands as Will swiftly parried aside the blow and lightly clipped the Ranger in the thigh with a counter move. Alex and Julia winced as they watched Jung hit the dirt face first. The Blue Ranger groaned and picked himself up again as Kara watched Will recover the training sword and offer a few more words of instruction to his student. She shook her head to herself before catching a whispered conversation between the other two Rangers nearby. Alex nudged Julia, "Hey, what do you think Jung's deal is? He's usually the best one among us when it comes to this stuff."

"You think it has to do with a few days ago?" Julia replied, "He seemed a little down since that whole incident with his dad."

Alex shrugged, "You really think he'd be that bothered that he can't pay to take that cooking class?"

"It's his passion Alex. You saw how dismissive his dad was of it. And the way he's trying to set his whole future in stone?" Julia insisted, "You wouldn't like it either, right?"

Alex grimaced slightly but before he could reply, Kara cleared her throat and picked up her own sword, "All right. That's enough chatter you two. Why don't you practice with me for a few minutes?"

As they began to practice more, Will went over Jung's opening stance and spoke quietly, "Is everything okay Jung? You look like something is troubling you."

"I'm fine Mr. Sheppard," the teen lied quickly as he pretended to focus on his stance, "Everything is fine. I'm just having an off day."

"Ah... you're sure you're not having an off week?" his teacher answered.

Jung turned his head and looked a little defensive, "What makes you say that?"

"I haven't had you in my class very long, but I still pay attention to things," Will said as he adjusted Jung's grip on his training sword, "You're a high flying student, but you got a C grade on the last quiz I gave you a few days ago."

"So I got a mediocre grade on one little quiz. So what?" Jung huffed.

Will regarded him patiently, "I also know you haven't turned in your latest writing assignment that was due today."

The Blue Ranger grumbled irritably, "I appreciate your concern Mr. Sheppard, but you wouldn't understand... so can we just not talk about it right now? Please?"

The Skywarden gave a sigh and shook his head before the Rangers felt their morphers start to buzz. They stopped practice and pulled out the compass morphers seeing that the gems were growing and pointing a small projected arrow toward the source of danger. Since the last monster attack, the Infinity Rangers had come to learn their morphers were equipped with an added feature. Not only could they draw on the light of Confluence and use it navigate through darkness, but it could guide them to where they might be needed. Jung gave a sigh of relief as he watched the blue glowing arrow point toward the other side of town. "Great... perfect timing."

"We've got trouble! Let's go!" Alex called as he gave a wave and led the others from the training grounds. Kara and Will exchanged another look of silent concern with each other before they both made their way to follow along behind the young Rangers.

* * *

Meanwhile, chaos was already breaking out as a new Stygian warrior began to terrorize the citizens of Riverbrook. Like the Cenobite who came before him, this warrior wore grayish armor plates over vital areas only his were more smooth and rounded. The monstrous shadow warrior sported round polished gemstones of black onyx along his armor and helmet with a large glass orb embossed on his cuirass which swirled with some form of dark energy. As the Stygian neared the town hall building, it swept its wrists out and fired a barrage of shadowy projectiles from its onyx gems. The bolts damaged several nearby buildings while tearing up nearby parkways and concrete pavement. Marching along with him were a small handful of Pariah footsldiers who kept a close watch while escorting on their leader.

Before the Cenobite could point and fire directly at Town Hall, he turned when he saw the Pariahs whirl around and growl. To the warrior's amusement, he saw the three teenage Rangers finally arrive and face him down. Alex pointed a finger and gripped his morpher as the Rangers prepared to do battle, "I don't know who you are or what you're up to, but that's far enough."

"You should care boy," the Cenobite said, "I am Darkstar and I'll be the one who will take your morphers to Queen Shemhazai herself."

Julia mustered her own courage and called out a challenge, "Oh yeah? Your last friend already tried and failed. What makes you think you're any different?"

Darkstar laughed and aimed the glowing orb in his chest toward some people who were now coming out of Town Hall to flee. "He didn't have my magnetic personality!"

To the Rangers' horror, they watched as the Stygian warrior fired a beam of shadowy energy from his chest orb and caught them in a sort of magical tractor beam. The terrified civilians struggled to resist for several moments before they became marble sized motes of light and were drawn into the black hole of the monster's orb. Darkstar laughed, "It seems I've got a few extra hostages now just in case."

"Hey! Let those people go!" Jung shouted but Darkstar shook his head.

"Not until you hand over your morphers."

Now that there weren't any onlookers, Alex raised his compass and opened it causing it to flare with red light, "You want them? We'll give it to you! Infinity Morphers!"

"Break the Limit!" Jung and Julia answered as the three swiftly morphed into their Ranger suits and drew their swords.

Darkstar waved his troops forward to engage the enemy first, "Take them!"

The three Rangers rushed forward and plowed into the Stygian footsoldiers with full force. Despite the snarls and claws of the minions, the three Rangers now faced them with a newfound confidence. They felt protected by their new Ranger suits and the superhuman abilities that came with them. As they fought through the press of enemies, they unconsciously began to put their combat training to use, from the sword katas that Mr. Sheppard had taught them to the martial arts maneuvers that Miss Bishop had drilled them on. Julia evaded a Pariah and rolled off its side, slashing it as she went along before kicking another one away. Nearby, Alex deflected away the claws of two foes and moved between them to break up their formation. He punched one in the face and elbowed the other in the head before taking them both down with a whirling sword slash.

At the other flank of the Rangers' formation, Jung kicked aside several swipes from enemy Pariahs and parried them aside with his blade causing two of the soldiers to collide with one another. The Blue Ranger turned his blade and thrust forward skewering both at the same time and causing them to dissolve into black wispy smoke. By now, Darkstar waded forward into battle with a sneer, "Not bad for a bunch of children. Let's see how you like this!"

The Cenobite fired another barrage of his "dark-stars" at the Rangers causing them to tumble aside and scatter in order to evade the attack. With the Rangers off balance, Darkstar turned his gravity beam on Jung and fired but the Red and Yellow Rangers rushed in and shoved him to the ground to get him clear. They struggled for a moment and Jung watched in horror as their suits gave out and his two comrades were captured in the beam. Their motes of light were immediately sucked into his black orb while Jung got to his feet in alarm. "Alex! Julia!"

"Two down, one to go," Darkstar chortled as the Blue Ranger felt fear and panic grip his heart. He didn't know what to do or what happened to them. Were they even okay? Would they be in pain? Could he even fight off this monster by himself?"

"Your move Blue," Darkstar taunted him as Jung took the fighting stance that Mr. Sheppard had taught them earlier that day. He would have to try and keep fighting, but he didn't know if this attack would even work.

Jung sprung forward in desperation and made a sloppy thrust which Darkstar evaded. The Blue Ranger brought his guard up briefly and turned it into a desperate swing which the Cenobite blocked and countered. The Stygian charged his gauntlet with shadowy energy and sent the Ranger flying backward with a powerful punch that took the wind from Jung's lungs.

Once he skidded to a halt, Jung lay stunned on the ground and struggled to get back up to his feet. He desperately tried to catch his breath and shake the stars from his vision but he gasped when he saw the menacing Stygian warrior loom over him. The monstrous Cenobite reached for the large glass orb of swirling darkness in his chest armor and gave a laugh, "Time's up Blue Ranger. Now you're going to join your friends in the darkness."

Before it could fire a beam to trap Jung, Darkstar was blasted back by two searing bolts of lightning which split the air. The Stygian howled in pain as it was thrown back and blinded by the magic attacks and Jung felt a pair of hands grab him from behind and haul him back to his knees. "Are you okay?"

He turned with a start and saw that the Rangers two mentors had stepped in and come to the rescue in just the nick of time. Kara helped the Ranger up while holding a key shaped artifact in her hand while Will stood guard over his young charge dressed in his blue cloak and holding his Prism Sabre at the ready. "You aren't going to lay a finger on this kid, you hear me?"

Jung blinked in surprise as Kara joined Will on the battle line, "What the... Miss Bishop? Mr. Sheppard?"

"Stand back Jung. We'll cover you here," Kara said tersely as she raised her Keyrune and morphed into her Ranger suit, "Vanguard Ascend!"

There was a bright flash of golden light and Jung stared in awe of the female Gold Ranger before him. Will even glanced over in surprise and gave her a nod as she summoned a pair of lightly curved scimitar blades to her hands. "You good to go?"

"Follow my lead," Kara said quickly as she made a high leap and took off into the air with a pair of angelic wings made of light, "Try to keep up warden!"

Will snorted in amusement at the challenge as he quickly advanced on the ground. By now, the Stygian Cenobite recovered its senses and fired barrage of black shadow orbs which Will deflected with his sword. As the Skywarden continued to charge forward, Darkstar backpedaled and looked up just in time to see an angelic female Power Ranger in a gold suit dive down upon him with her swords. He raised his guard just in time to block the ferocious aerial assault. Kara charged her blades with her own lightning element and hammered away at the Stygian's guard just as Will swept in and made his own pass from the flank. The Ranger moved in sync with the warden and rolled away to disengage as Will struck with a whirling blow to finally break the Stygian's guard.

The Cenobite gasped as his two enemies found their opening, striking together in unison and using their combined momentum to slash him. The wounded Stygian went flying backward in a cloud of sparks and landed in a heap. As Darkstar crawled back up to his feet, he enveloped himself in a cloud of shadows and withdrew from the battlefield, "Remember I still have your friends Blue Ranger. We'll finish this later!"

Jung gritted his teeth in frustration before he saw Will and Kara lower their swords and turn back toward him. The Skywarden motioned for them to follow him, "We've bought ourselves a little bit of time. Now come on. We've got to figure out our next move if we're going to save Alex, Julia, and the other people."

Jung nodded his head quietly and reluctantly followed along, hoping he could find some way to bounce back from this disastrous battle.


	6. Noble Resolve

**Episode 2: Part 2  
**

Upon returning to the safety of the Watchtower, Jung made his way to the upper floors where Will had claimed a room as his study. While it wasn't quite as well furnished as Professor Bishop's office in the Rookery, Kara couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic from the cozy atmosphere of the rustic stone and the decor which was slightly reminiscent of the early Renaissance era. Several dark wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with magical tomes of arcane theory while a couple small artifacts and oddities sat on some tables either for display or further study. Here and there a few old watercolor paintings of landscapes adorned some walls adding a personal touch to the room that otherwise looked very much like a wizard's private study. Without removing his blue cloak, Will sat down at his desk and folded his hands. Kara and Jung pulled up some chairs of their own and joined him with equally grim looks.

"What are we going to do Mr. Sheppard?" Jung asked in a distraught tone, "Whatever that thing was trapped Alex, Julia, and some of those other townspeople."

"Kara and I arrived late to the battle. Did you see how that monster did it?" the Skywarden asked.

Jung grimaced, "Well... I think he had some kind of black orb or crystal in his chest. It was able to suck everything into it, like a black hole or something."

"Hence the name Darkstar... cute," Kara grimly scoffed to herself as she put it together in her mind, "It's probably worth a shot trying to destroy that thing. If you can land a solid blow on it, you might be able to crack it open and free everyone."

Jung balked a moment, "Me? By myself?"

"With your powers, you are the best equipped to do the job," Will pointed out, "Miss Bishop and I might have been able to drive off the monster for now, but there's only so much that she and I can actually do in a straight up fight."

The young Blue Ranger hesitated again, "I... I don't know Mr. Sheppard. I already screwed up out there and I feel like I let Alex and Julia down when they needed me. I know we have to do something, but I don't know if I can either."

He rose from his chair and headed out of the study to go downstairs still looking deeply troubled over everything. Will sat back in his chair and frowned, "What was all that about?"

Kara calmly looked toward him and cleared her throat, "I don't know if this may help... but I think I may have some insight."

After spending a few minutes telling Will about the things she heard from Alex and Julia, Kara sat back in her chair and folded her hands together, "So... what do you make of it? What do you suppose we do now?"

Will gave a pensive frown and remained silent. After a long moment of thought he rose from his chair and headed for the door, "I'll take care of this one. I think I know how to get through and make a point."

"Really? Are you sure?" Kara protested.

"Trust me," he answered with an optimistic nod before leaving the study. Before stepping out of the Watchtower, Will collected two wooden training swords along the way. Once outside in the cool autumn air, he looked around the wooded clearing before spotting Jung across the way near the riverbank. The Blue Ranger stood glumly tossing some stones into the water and watching the ripples.

"That's an interesting form of zen you've got going there."

Jung turned in surprise and gave a sigh as he saw his mentor approach, "Oh, Mr. Sheppard. Sorry... I just needed some space. I thought I might try to come up with another way to save Alex and Julia myself but I'm still coming up blank."

"I see," Will nodded quietly, "Well... Miss Bishop and I were talking and I think we may be on to something, but I'm going to need your help. Come with me."

Jung followed the warden back toward the training ground and was surprised when Will tossed him a wooden training sword. "Mr. Sheppard? What are you doing?"

"Teaching you a lesson," the warden answered holding his weapon with one arm and taking a broad stance, "Now pick up your sword and morph."

"What?"

Will leveled his sword threateningly and spoke with a serious tone, "I want you to attack. Hit me or disarm me... if you can."

Jung blinked in apprehension before he saw the solemn look on Will's face. The Blue Ranger morphed into his Ranger suit and assumed his stance. He raised his training sword and took a deep steadying breath before darting forward. Without giving any ground, Will met Jung's attack and parried his strike aside. Despite fighting with one hand and using a disadvantageous stance, the warden answered with a riposte and struck Jung in the ribs causing the Ranger to double over. Will brought his sword back around and hit him lightly over the back to make him jump again.

"Come on! I said attack me already! Are you even trying?" the warden called in a sharp rebuke.

Jung huffed and thrusted again only Will deftly sidestepped the attack and effortlessly swept the Ranger's legs out from behind with a backhanded flick of his sword arm. As the morphed Blue Ranger toppled to the ground again, he found the point of the Skywarden's sword in his visored face. Will slowly withdrew his sword and helped his student up, "Tell me Jung... how did I beat you?"

"I don't know..." the teenager muttered as he took off his Ranger helmet, "You're too strong."

"I'm the stronger one?" Will answered in amusement, "You're the one wearing the Ranger suit. You've got the superhuman speed and strength. I was just standing here in place fighting with one hand."

Jung paused and thought it over, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. Will placed a hand on his shoulder, "My guess? You're not committing to your attack, just like in other aspects of your life?"

The Blue Ranger looked to him in surprise before he and Will sat down on a fallen log. His teacher folded his hands, "I may have heard some things about an issue with your father? Something about cooking and your future?"

Jung paused a moment before nodding, "It's always been a hobby of mine, but also something I've been thinking more seriously about... about making a future of it. I don't know yet. My father seems to think it's a huge waste of time. He didn't even want to help me register for the club at school and said I should be working to go into business or finance... like him."

"Ah... so that's why you might have been letting your grades slip a little?" Will surmised, "A little form of rebellion?"

Jung shrugged, "Maybe... I don't know. My parents have always been obsessed with us doing well in school and getting good grades at all costs. So that we can get into the best universities and have the most opportunities."

"Well they're not wrong about that part," Will admitted with a gentle laugh, "Speaking as your teacher, I still want you all to do well in school... to get good grades and have opportunities. But you have to think about why you're doing all this. Is it for your parents, or for you? Are you just going through the motions half heartedly because they told you to, or do you have any convictions of your own?"

Jung stopped and thought it over, unsure of how to answer. Will settled back and looked toward the river, "You know... this sort of reminds me of an old story in Western literature, about a knight called Ivanhoe. He had gone off on the Crusades and when he returned home, he suddenly found himself as a sort of outcast. He found that even his own noble father disowned him."

"What happened?" Jung asked curiously.

Will scratched his chin, "He took on a new identity and went about proving his worth to everyone around him, by doing right and rescuing people around him who were in danger. It was because of his commitment and conviction to do the right thing, that he was able to shed his disguise and endure through all the grief and doubt that others gave him."

"Well it sounds like a nice story and all Mr. Sheppard, but I'm not a knight," Jung said.

"No, but you are a Power Ranger and there are still people who need rescuing... including your friends," Will said handing him back one of the wooden swords, "The question is, are you ready to do what you have to? Are you ready to fully commit to this duty?"

Jung gripped the sword and held it for a moment before giving a resolute nod, "Yeah... I think I am."

"Good. Grab your helmet then," Will said helping Jung to his feet, "You've got a town to save."

* * *

Later that day, Jung stood waiting atop a small warehouse building at the edge of the town. He hoped that from here, he could get a good look at his surroundings and maybe draw out the Stygian warrior into the open. As he scanned the nearby roads and saw traffic was letting up, he heard movement from behind. Jung turned slowly to face the familiar visage of the Cenobite studded in black onyx stones. Darkstar crossed his arms and laughed, "You finally decided to come back. Or are you here to beg for mercy?"

Jung drew his Prism Sabre and faced down his foe, remembering Mr. Sheppard's words and trying to take a cue from the fictional Ivanhoe too. "I'm here to get my friends back... and give you a little payback too."

"Ho! Ho! Big words there Blue," the Stygian laughed as he leapt down to the empty lot below. Jung followed behind and took a ready stance as the monster continued to taunt him, "Are you really sure you can save the other Rangers? The limp way you were swinging that little toothpick around could have fooled me."

"Let's just say I needed some perspective," Jung growled, "I know what I want to do now... and that starts with beating you."

Darkstar patted the large round onyx stone on his chestplate, "Well bring it on kid. Hit me with your best shot."

The Blue Ranger steadied himself and remembered the movements of the kata Will had been teaching him. He knew what he had to do, and this time, he would do it right. Everything was riding on this strike and he would put his whole heart and force behind it. He surged forward and thrust out with his sword. Darkstar raised his armored forearms and blocked, taking a step back from the force of Jung's aggressive charge. The Blue Ranger shifted and turned his blade to meet the Stygian as the monster tried to counterattack with a jab.

Jung turned his enemy's blow aside and countered with the last step of the kata he had learned. The Ranger brought his Prism Sabre around as hard as he could and slashed at the vulnerable Darkstar's cuirass. The Stygian gave a startled cry as Jung's powerful sword swing hammered him across the chest, knocking him backwards and shattering his orb. The Cenobite warrior reached for his chest and tried in vain to stop all the shadows from bleeding out before there was a terrific burst of light and all the captured people were freed. Several motes of light erupted from the orb and scattered the stunned civilians on the ground as they materialized once more. To Jung's relief, he saw Alex and Julia laying on the ground. They were unmorphed and looked disoriented, but otherwise unharmed.

Jung rushed over and helped his comrades sit up, "Alex? Julia? Are you two okay?"

"I think so..." Julia said in a daze, "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that you're going to pay for this!" Darkstar snarled holding the shards of his broken orb.

Alex staggered and tried to get up but Jung held him down and shook his head, "No. It's okay. I've got this."

The Blue Ranger rose to his feet and slowly moved to confront his foe echoing his words in a taunt, "You want me to pay for that? Fine. Take your best shot!"

The Stygian fired off several darkstar bolts from his gauntlets, but Jung sprinted through them, deflecting a few aside before calling his enhanced personal weapon, "Dance, Noble Crest!"

In a flash of light, the Prism Sabre transformed itself into a pair of ornate gauntlets and greaves of oriental design along with a small silvery embellishment to his helmet giving the appearance of a royal crown. Darkstar recoiled from the light and stared in surprise as the Ranger launched a ferocious counterattack. Jung moved like a silvery gold blur and completely outmaneuvered his slower opponent before unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches. Even as the Stygian raised its guard, Jung hammered away and shattered several more of the dark onyx stones on its armor which empowered the monster. From where they were sitting, Alex and Julia simply watched in awe as Jung attacked with surprising zeal, chaining together several combinations of punches and kicks with flowing motions.

Showers of sparks flew as each blow dented and scuffed the Stygian's armor before it began to crack in several places. By now, Darkstar was getting desperate and knew the battle was turning against him. He lashed out with a few frantic punches, but Jung nimbly ducked under them and danced around his guard with his swift footwork.

"Are you just going to dance around me all day?" Darkstar panted in a frantic taunt.

"Yeah, and I'm saving the last one for you," Jung answered as he batted aside his enemy's next punch and smashed the Stygian with a snap kick. As the Ranger moved, he began to channel the power of Confluence into his greaves to empower each of his next attacks. A bright blue light streamed through the air in afterglows as Jung battered his enemy with a series of spinning roundhouse kicks. As his attacks reached a crescendo, Jung sprung forward in a high jump kick which was supercharged with his blue light, "Final Flare! Infinity Strike!"

Jung's armored boot collided with Darkstar and sent the Stygian hurtling backwards through the air. The force of the impact shattered the monster's armor and even as he flew backwards, the searing light of of the Infinity Ranger's final attack began to burn away the warrior's body. Darkstar impacted the ground several yards away and erupted into a cloud of fire and concrete, leaving nothing left of the Cenobite.

Once he recovered from the exertion of the final attack, Jung took a breath and went over to his friends who were watching with wide eyes. Alex gave an approving nod, "Damn Jung... you literally kicked that guy's ass. Nice one!"

"Thanks for the save," Julia added as Jung helped her up, "Uh... what happened? How did we get here?"

Jung looked over to the other civilians who had been captured and were now regaining consciousness, "That's a long story. I'll tell you once we get back to the Watchtower. In the mean time, I think we should get these people some help."

His friends weren't quite sure what was going on, but with the people safe and the Stygian vanquished, they didn't have any particular reason to protest either.

* * *

As afternoon set in over Riverbrook the next day, long golden rays of the sun streamed in through the windows as Alex and Julia made their way in from the cool autumn air into the central living room of the Watchtower. There they found Kara already sitting at the table paging through a book while a warm inviting smell wafted in from the kitchen. Alex greeted the Gold Ranger with a nod and sniffed the air, "Hi Miss Bishop. What smells so good? You have something cooking?"

Kara looked up and shook her head, "Actually, no. But I believe your friend Jung does."

The two other Rangers looked over as Jung entered the common room with a steaming serving pot of food that he set down on the table. Julia came over and peeked inside curiously. "You made soup? It looks great."

"Just a simple ramen recipe I made from scratch with some veggies and beef," Jung said as he offered everyone some bowls and spoons, "I decided to cook something up for Mr. Sheppard. While you guys were captured, he helped me out and put some things into perspective for me so I wanted to thank him."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate it," Kara added in approval as she tasted the soup, "Speaking of which…"

The Rangers glanced over toward the winding stairwell leading upstairs and they saw their teacher coming down from his study. He was carrying a small bundle of graded papers and gave a curious look as he came over, "Hey everyone… what's all this?"

"A little gesture of gratitude for the other day," Jung said offering his mentor a bowl of soup and noodles.

"Thank you Jung. That's very good of you," Will smiled as he tried the food and gave an approving nod, "I guess it's true. You are quite the amateur chef."

"It's too bad you weren't able to sign on with the school cooking club this term," Julia offered as she patted the Blue Ranger's shoulder, "I'm sure they'll be missing out on your talent and creativity."

Jung shrugged and gave a half-hearted smile, "Thanks Julia. At the very least, I can take some satisfaction in being able to cook for my friends."

"Hmm… you might not want to count yourself out so fast Jung," Will said as he thoughtfully stirred some noodles in his bowl. Everyone stopped and looked to the head of the table where the Skywarden sat wearing a small inscrutable smile.

"Mr. Sheppard? What are you talking about?" Alex asked in confusion.

"Let's just say it helps being a teacher at the school… especially if it means getting to register Jung for the course and sponsor him."

"You… you got me in the course, and you covered my fee?" Jung said in wide eyed astonishment.

"That's awesome!" Julia cheered while Alex clapped Jung on the back, "Very cool Mr. Sheppard."

Jung blinked a few times before reverting to his native Asian ways and giving a deep bow of gratitude with this head, "Thank you Mr. Sheppard! I don't know what to say. If there's some way I can make it up to you…"

Will smiled and got up to walk over to his bookshelf, "I'll tell you what Jung, how about you do a little extra credit assignment for me?"

He pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to the Ranger with a grin. On the cover, the title read Ivanhoe. "Read this book and write me a 7 page report in two weeks. It should make up for that missed assignment and you might personally get something out of the book too. Then we'll call it even."

Jung beamed and bowed his head again, "Yes sir! It's a deal!"

"Great. Because now that you're done snacking, I think it's time we head back outside and get in a little more fencing practice," Kara said, "Come on. Chop-chop."

The other Rangers save for Jung gave a reluctant groan as they got up from the table and prepared to go outside for another training session. Once the teenagers headed out the door, Will sat down to continue eating his ramen with a content look. From her spot at the table, Kara graced him with a faint smile, "That was a really good thing you did Will. I think you really surprised everyone today, including me."

He gave a modest shrug, "Ah... well, there's something to be said for the tough love approach of dealing with students. But it never hurts to let them know you care too."

"Hm. I think I know what you mean," Kara snorted in amusement as she rose from the table, "But I guess you're still just a big softie at heart, huh?"

"Hey, if you really want to be the hardass teacher around here that's fine with me," Will chuckled as he sat back and continued to enjoy his meal, "I'm more than happy for the kids to think I'm the cool mentor anyway."

Kara simply rolled her eyes with a sigh and walked outside leaving the Skywarden to his warm hearty soup and his even heartier laughter.


	7. Acting Out

**Episode 3: Part 1****  
**

The bell sounded as students began to once again bustle through the busy halls of Riverbrook High. Among the throng, Julia Walker stopped at her locker to drop her books before going to lunch. As she grabbed her lunchbag, she heard the familiar voice of her friend and fellow Ranger Alex call out a greeting. "Hey Jules! You ready to go to lunch? I hear they're going to be serving…"

She turned to greet her friends Alex and Jung as they came to join her for lunch, but she paused and understood why Alex stopped mid-sentence. She stopped and stared at the navy blue hoodie he was wearing emblazoned with an orange letter C on the chest. He did the same upon seeing her similar yellow hoodie only with a green colored G on the front. She adjusted her glasses and pretended to stick her nose in the air, "Hmph. I thought you had better fashion sense than that Alex Everett. Those colors do not work for you."

He crossed his arms and offered a playful retort, "Ditto. You're just lucky we're Rangers. I might have to seriously reconsider our friendship now."

Jung raised a puzzled eyebrow, "Uh... guys? I don't get it. Why are you two dissing each other all of a sudden?"

Alex grinned and pointed to their sweaters and patted the Blue Ranger's shoulder, "Relax buddy. We're just messing around. It's what Bears and Packers fans do. You know how lots of people here in the U.S. take football seriously? Well, the teams for Chicago and Green Bay have one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in the whole sport."

"Well... not so much of a rivalry these past couple years with the way the Bears have been playing," Julia pointed out impishly.

Alex rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle little shove, "Quiet down cheesehead. We'll see how tough you're talking when they play this weekend. Loser buys the winner's lunch on Monday?"

"You're on!" Julia answered shaking his hand but she paused when she caught sight of her mother coming down the hall flagging her down. The Yellow Ranger sighed, "Hey, sorry guys. I'll join you in a bit? Looks like Mom wants to talk."

Alex and Jung exchanged a look and shrugged before heading off and giving her some privacy. As she neared, Mrs. Walker gave a smile and put an arm around Julia's shoulder as they began to walk again. Like her daughter, Mrs. Walker was also wearing yellow in the form a cardigan over a white blouse. "Julia dear, there you are. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"I was just going to lunch with the guys," Julia said, "What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure everything was going okay. Ever since you started classes here, you've been keeping to yourself more these days."

Julia tried to evade the question, "That is kind of what teenagers do, right? Especially when your own mother is a teacher at your school."

"Fair enough," Mrs. Walker relented, "But your father and I were worried if you were adjusting here okay. I did notice you seem to be spending quite a lot of time with those two boys Alex and Jung."

Julia tensed a little and glanced over, "Yeah? What's so bad about that? They're cool, and I like hanging out with them."

"You don't have a crush on one of them, do you?" Mrs. Walker asked, "Or maybe one of them likes you instead?"

Julia immediately felt her cheeks burn red at the very thought, "Oh my gosh, Mom! No! Trust me, it's not like that at all! I… the three of us just have a lot of classes together and I feel comfortable around them, okay?"

"Well… I'm just glad that you're making some new friends here," Mrs. Walker relented, "I was a little concerned you weren't talking to enough new people here."

It was true that in addition to being the new girl around school, Julia had always been a bit shy and awkward around people. That natural quirk had posed an added challenge when it came to settling in with the social circles of Riverbrook High, but in a way Julia had thought it a mixed blessing she became a Power Ranger instead. With it came a sort of special camaraderie and friendships that she could take some comfort in now. Even if they were all a little new to one another, Alex and Jung were in the same boat as her. That bond of sharing a secret and being Rangers came with a sort of mutual acceptance of one another and that had been working for her so far. Julia sighed, "I'm working on it. I just want to take things at my own pace. You know I'm never going to win a Miss Congeniality award and I've always preferred having a smaller tighter group of friends anyway."

"I know dear, but I just thought I'd help you a little bit more," Mrs. Walker said, "That's why I signed you up to volunteer for the stage crew on the school's drama club."

"You what?" Julia asked in shock, "You threw me into a school club without even asking?"

"I'm sorry, but I thought you liked theater and drama," Mrs. Walker pointed out in surprise.

Julia huffed, "I do! I just wished you didn't just assume things either. Are you sure this isn't because you and Dad are still feeling guilty about picking up and moving here for work?"

Mrs. Walker sighed and brushed aside a few strands of Julia's golden hair, "I'm sorry I didn't give you more of a heads up on this, dear. We know the move was tough and we just want to try and do what's best for you here. Will you please just give this club a try?"

Julia gave another sigh and relented, "Okay, Mom. I'll try it. I'm going to get going okay? I have to meet the guys for lunch."

Mrs. Walker gave a sigh and quietly shook her head as she watched Julia head off down the hall, wondering if she had done the right thing... in more ways than one.

* * *

Elsewhere on the dark plane of Stygia, clouds of gloom continued to swirl around the dreary halls of the Cathedral Oblivion. Even as a beacon of light in the realm of primordial shadows, the cathedral's light was a dim and somber one that flickered like a funeral pyre would when observed from a distance. Within the ornate halls General Noctis pushed his way past some of the cathedral's servants and petitioners as he escorted a warrior that followed close behind. The Stygian warrior was another one of Lady Shemhazai's elite and loyal Cenobites drawn from her special cloister of servants. He wore a suit of blackened spiked plate armor that curled and twisted into menacing knots. The armor had ornate trim and runes upon it denoting some sort of rank or prestige while the owner of the armor's face was exposed from the open mask. The Cenobite wore a solemn look and maintained a stern countenance as he followed the general quietly down the hallways until they exited the cathedral to step out into a large courtyard.

It was there that they found Queen Shemhazai strolling by herself though a dark flower garden. Many of the flower petals were in deep shades of black, blues, and purples and their throny vines and stems twisted about the perverse garden like serpents. Every so often, she would stop and examine the sinister flowers, taking time to admire them. Even if Noctis could not see Shemhazai's eyes through her headpiece, he knew better than to question how she could see the flowers in front of her. Even the idea of seeing what lay under the headpiece which covered half of her features scared him and he dared not even imagine what her true visage looked like. Although Shemhazai seemed to be focused on her flowers, she addressed them without even looking up when they approached. "General... there you are. How do you find this garden forgotten by time?"

Noctis looked around at the bleak haunted flora about them, "It has it's own... unique charm."

Shemhazai nodded, "It certainly does. Have you done what I had asked you?"

Noctis bowed his head slightly, "Yes my Queen. I've brought you your Cenobite, Skorn as you asked."

The Cenobite stepped forward and offered a reverent bow of the head as well. "I am ready to carry out your orders, Mistress."

The demonic demi-goddess smiled as she produced from her robes a vial filled with dark liquid, "In this container is an extract of these black thorn roses. They say it can poison the minds of mortals and bring out their more dark and vicious tendencies. I need your special talents for this little experiment Skorn."

The Cenobite took the vial as Noctis tilted his head curiously, "My Queen?"

"I wish to study my enemies and learn what sort of people I am up against... particularly the Infinity Rangers," Shemhazai explained, "All humans have their darker sides. I want to see how they react when I sow discord and chaos amid them, to learn where they may be weak or what bonds I may exploit in the future."

Skorn laughed and brandished its weapon, a thorny rapier with barbed steel coiled and twisted around the guard, "And the pleasure will be mine."

Shemhazai nodded and went back to her gardening, "Very good Skorn. Go, and do not disappoint me. If you do, then you will suffer the same fate as the Cenobites before you."

* * *

After school ended for the day, Julia made her way to the school's theater where the drama club was meeting up. After checking in, she looked around and listened as several of her classmates went to work preparing for the school's upcoming Fall musical. Judging by some of the peasant costumes being put together and the tunes being dabbled with from a piano player nearby, Julia guessed that the school was going to be putting on Fiddler on the Roof. She couldn't help but smile a little as she watched the students in the main cast practice a few lines with each other. If she was being honest, part of her wished she had enough confidence to try out for a part... except the thought of singing, dancing, and acting in front of a large crowd made her feel anxious already. How would she even hope to fit in with all these other extroverted people putting on the show?

"Hey, you the new girl?" came a girl's voice.

Julia turned and saw a Hispanic looking girl in black jeans and a black stage crew shirt come over and greet her. The student had her hair cut short and she exuded a breezy demeanor as she looked Julia over a moment. The Yellow Ranger blinked and nodded quickly, "Uh... yeah. Sorry. I was signed up late to volunteer for stage crew. I'm Julia Walker."

"Ashley Vargas," the girl answered giving Julia's hand a shake before leading her backstage, "You're Mrs. Walker's daughter, right? The History teacher?"

"Guilty," Julia shrugged as Ashley tossed her a black crew shirt.

"Well, Goldilocks, there's your new work uniform. This isn't your first rodeo, is it?"

Julia rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "Well... sorta. I've always loved musicals and theater and I kind of wish I could perform, but I guess this will be the first step. I mean, Fiddler's not a bad show either."

Ashley scrutinized Julia a moment, "You like musicals too, huh? You have a favorite performer?"

Julia flushed a little, "Oh... well, I always thought Lin Manuel Miranda is pretty hot. And I loved him in Hamilton, and..."

"Say no more," Ashley grinned as she led Julia along to the supply closets backstage, "I happen to agree and I think we'll get along great."

"Really? That's awesome!" Julia replied, relieved at the prospect of making a new friend and ally here.

Ashley gestured for her to follow along, "Yeah, why don't you give me a hand and we can talk more about all that."

Before Julia could answer, she felt something vibrate in her pocket and she knew at once that it wasn't her phone. It was her Infinity morpher and she knew at once that there was trouble. The Yellow Ranger gave an apologetic look, "Hey Ashley, I'm sorry but I just remembered something important. I've really gotta run. Maybe another time, okay?"

Julia quickly turned and headed off to respond to the trouble leaving her classmate standing alone with in silence wearing a genuinely puzzled look on her face.

* * *

Across town, a small crowd of people fled from one of Riverbrook's wooded forest preserves. The preserves were popular areas for locals to picnic and to take their children to play. Amid that particular picnic ground, several families scooped up their kids and rushed away from the grove as the Stygian monster Skorn made his way forward at a casual stroll. Here and there the monster flicked his rapier about shooting dark quills that exploded on the lawns and park benches. Other shots tore up nearby trees to bring down heavy branches. As much as Skorn wanted to launch his attacks at these cowardly civilians, he held back and fired warning shots instead. He had special instructions to follow and he would have to be patient.

Soon enough, the Cenobite's patience was rewarded as three teenagers rushed into the camp grounds holding their compasses which had guided them there. Skorn turned his blade up and assumed a fencer's dueling stance once the last of the civilians were clear, "There you are. You must be the new Power Rangers. I've been waiting for you."

"Well we're only going to wait five seconds for you to leave before we start kicking butts around here," Alex answered in defiance as he brandished his morpher, "Rangers?"

"Infinity Morphers, break the limit!" the three chorused as they called upon the powers of the light.

Once the nimbus of prismatic energy subsided, Skorn gave a derisive snort as he faced down the three morphed Rangers, "If you're so eager to fight, then you'll get one. Pariahs!"

The Stygian gave a wave and summoned a small band of shadowy foot soldiers who charged forward at the moment that they materialized. The three Rangers rushed forward to meet the enemy attack and took on the monsters while calling their Prism Sabres on the move. Skorn took a moment to apply the dark extract to his blade before he paused to watch the Rangers and pick out his next target. He watched the Red Ranger tumble forward and bash aside a Pariah with a kick before evading another foe with a spinning dodge. As he finished his motion, Alex called his sidearm to his hand and cut down the Pariah with the momentum of his backspin. Meanwhile, Jung used his legs in a more defensive way as he deflected aside the monsters' claws with some whirling kicks. As the enemies closed in, the Blue Ranger grabbed one by the arm and swung it around to slam into several of the others. Now staggered in a confused pileup, Jung flew forward and knocked several of the Pariahs over with a flying kick before flipping backward to the ground while summoning his sabre. He took a moment to charge it with blue light before slashing the air and mowing them down with a wave of power.

Skorn growled at the clumsy foot-soldiers' incompetence before he spied the female Yellow Ranger. Julia used her smaller stature and agility to slip around her enemy's strikes and counter punch before sidestepping away again. Even as the soldiers tried to grab and claw at her, Julia knocked them aside with evasive somersault kicks that let her get in a better position. She finished her combo by hooking her legs around the neck of a Pariah and and twisting around in an acrobatic corkscrew to threw the soldier down face-first. She recovered to her feet brandishing her own Prism Sabre and was just in time to meet the attack of Skorn as he charged her. She gasped and maintained her defensive style as the Stygian pressed his attack, testing her guard with feints and quick little thrusts of his rapier. As Julia was backed up against a tree, she dodged a slash and tumbled clear as several layers of bark exploded in the air.

As she rolled to her feet, she began to turn around but Skorn was too fast and launched a pin pointed spike from his blade. Julia cried out in pain as the projectile struck her in the back of her left shoulder and threw her down to the ground. Upon impact, the spike dissolved and left a black seared mark on her suit and Julia winced as she waited for the stinging injury to subside. Jung came to her aid and covered her while Alex leapt forward and attacked Skorn with several ferocious hacks.

Skorn growled as the Red Ranger's blade beat back his rapier and drove him backward. The Stygian Cenobite made a nimble leap to get clear and landed on a low branch of a nearby tree. "I've had my fun Rangers, but we'll play in the park another time!"

He dissolved into smoke and retreated from the battlefield leaving Alex to turn around and check on his comrades. He joined Jung as the Blue Ranger helped Julia up, "Hey. Are you okay? You sounded like you were in real pain a minute ago."

Julia sighed as she felt the pain subside, "Yeah, thanks. I think I'm good now. Whatever that monster did just now, I think the suit stopped it."

"You're sure?" Alex asked, "Maybe we should have Mr. Sheppard or Miss Bishop take a look?"

Julia shook her head, "I'll be fine. That was just a lucky shot, I guess. The pain is pretty much gone now, so... let's just be glad we chased that thing off and go home, okay?"

The two boys exchanged a look and Jung shrugged, "All right. If you say so."

As the three friends made their way from the grove, Julia paused to give her shoulder one more rub. It was probably nothing and she was sure that if she slept on it tonight, she'd be good as new. After all, tomorrow was a new day.

* * *

The following morning, students began to filter into their homerooms before the start of first period classes. As the students continued to make their way inside, Will sat at his desk going over his days lesson plans while Alex and Jung shared some laughs exchanging some funny memes and youtube videos with each other on their phones. Just then, the door flew open and Julia entered causing several people including her fellow Rangers to stop and stare at her. Seemingly overnight, she had underwent a sort of transformation with the clothes she wore and the attitude she exuded. In place of her normal attire were black distressed jeans and black boots. Her more conservative yellow shirts had been replaced by a dull yellow crop top under a dark colored zip up hoodie. She wore her hair loose and on her neck was a choker with some silvery vaguely gothic looking jewelry.

She strode in confidently and gave dismissive looks to the people she passed as she approached her friends. Even now, Will looked up from his desk and did a double take at his student's odd appearance. Jung blinked and turned to look at Alex in confusion, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Is that Julia?"

She took her seat with her two friends and kicked her boots up in a cavalier way, "How's it hangin' boys? You look surprised to see me for some reason."

"Oh, well... sorry Jules. Today you just look a little different is all," Alex offered diplomatically, "Are you... feeling okay?"

"I feel fine. Great, in fact," she snorted in mild boredom, "You like the new look?"

Before the boys could answer, she interrupted them with a hand in their faces and flippant tone of voice, "Forget it. Even if you didn't, I wouldn't give a crap anyway."

The bell rang and the three looked when they heard someone clear their throat. Will stood with his arms crossed giving a mildly disapproving look, "Let's get ready for class. Miss Walker? Feet off the desk, please?"

Julia glared back at her teacher in annoyance but he met it with a steady stern expression of his own, "This is a classroom, not a bar. Now, Julia."

She scoffed and grudgingly put her feet back down while Alex and Jung exchanged another worried glance between themselves. They weren't sure what was wrong with their friend, but her unusual behavior was certainly a cause for concern. The other students all seemed to share the sentiment, puzzled and surprised by the sudden attitude from the normally friendly mild-mannered new girl. Will nodded and headed back to the board, "All right class... let's continue with our discussion about those passages I asked you to read from the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

Later that day when lunchtime rolled around, Alex and Jung found a table and sat down to start eating. While classmates from other nearby tables chattered and gossiped about other things like Homecoming or what the questions were going to be asked on upcoming exams, Jung poked at his small bowl of rice and bulgogi chicken he had brought from home, "Hey Alex, you think everything is okay with Julia? She's been acting really weird today."

"You're telling me," the Red Ranger answered as he ate his sandwich, "It's like someone flipped a switch overnight."

"I hope not all American girls are like that," Jung said in dread, "Because she's kind of scaring me right now."

"Who's scaring you?" Julia asked as she barged in and took a seat with the two boys, "You need me to take care of her for you?"

Alex shook his head and lied, "Err, no one. He was talking about Mrs. Wilson and his Chem exam later today. If you don't mind me asking, how is your left shoulder doing from yesterday?"

"I dunno. It's a little sore I guess," Julia shrugged before she paused and gave an annoyed look, "What's it to you anyway? You keep asking me if I'm all right. I'm good, so just drop it."

She reached out and grabbed a brownie from Alex's lunch that he was saving for desert. "Correction, since you paid the penalty, now we're good."

Alex frowned and prepared to protest when Ashley Vargas approached from across the lunchroom. She tapped Julia on the shoulder and paused in surprise when she saw the appearance of the Yellow Ranger. "Hey Julia... err, what's up?"

Julia turned and raised an expectant eyebrow, "You tell me. You're the one who came over here."

"Oh, well I was wondering if you still planned on doing stage crew for the Fall musical."

The Yellow Ranger leaned back in her chair as she nibbled on Alex's brownie, "Hmm. I don't know. I was actually thinking of changing my mind. Maybe I will try out for a part instead."

"What?" Alex and Jung chorused in shocked unison before some more people approached the table. This time it was Laura Blye, the junior captain of the varsity cheerleaders flanked by her boyfriend Scott Harmon from the basketball team. Laura gave a sidelong look and made a passing side remark toward Julia, "Hey nice look Walker. I didn't know Hot Topic was hiring for flat mousey girls now."

To everyone's shock, Julia rose up and answered the challenge, "Please. Like you're one to talk. I could wipe away all the beauty from your face with a wet tissue."

Laura froze at the unexpected retort and whirled around, "Excuse me?"

Scott was already stepping in and angrily facing down the short Yellow Ranger, "Hey! Don't talk like that to my girlfriend, Four Eyes."

"Oh, Four Eyes? Real creative," Julia taunted back, "Even with these four eyes, I still can't see why Laura here would think you're remotely attractive."

In a moment of fury, he stepped forward to try and push her but Julia fell back on her Ranger training and swiftly deflected his hand aside. She twisted it and dislocated a couple fingers. The jock fell over yelping in pain as several other students nearby watched with a mixture of fear, surprise, and awe. Before anyone else could say a word, a few lunchroom monitors rushed over to break up any potential fight that was going break out. The monitor immediately rushed up to Julia as she dusted her hands off and gave a proud little nod to herself. "Hey, don't look at me. He started it. I was defending myself."

"Maybe so," the monitor said with a scowl as several other students began to act up and cheer for Julia while others tended to Laura and the injured Scott, "But that little scene you just caused now? That's going to earn you a one way ticket to detention."

* * *

**A/N:**  
**So it's back to work on my PR stories and the character focuses for this one. If anyone is curious or interested, I'll be doing something fun and posting a list of casting/face-claims for the cast of this series. The list will be at the very bottom of Chapter 1 so feel free to go back and check it out. While I'm generally not very good at this kind of thing, hopefully you like those choices and get a better mental image of our heroes. :)**


	8. Dramatis Personae

**Episode 3: Part 2  
**

At the end of the school day, Julia Walker gathered her books and finished her last class of the day. In her hand was the pink after-school detention slip she was issued at lunchtime and she debated about even showing up. As her Science class cleared out to go home, she crumpled the slip in her hand and tossed it in the trash before she heard a voice from the door. "I hope you weren't planning on ditching detention."

She turned and saw Mr. Sheppard standing at the door with his arms crossed. He didn't look angry, but he didn't look too happy either, "You wouldn't want to get slammed with a suspension."

The Yellow Ranger snorted, "With all due respect Mr. Sheppard, what does it matter to you?"

"I'm concerned because I'm your teacher," he said bluntly, "Both here and outside of school. I heard about your little fight at lunch."

"Well you weren't there so…" she began but then she paused, "Wait. How do you know what happened?"

He gave a wry smile, "Because I volunteered to proctor your detention today. Serve your time and I should be able to scratch it from your record… unless you'd rather have your mom find out, or get chewed out by Principal Gaylyn instead?"

Julia paused before giving a grudging nod, "All right. Fine."

She followed him to his classroom where she was surprised to find Alex, Jung, and Kara Bishop also waiting. Aside from them, the room was empty. Julia eyed her comrades as she sat down at a desk, "Okay. What's going on? What are you people doing here?"

"We have detention too," Alex said as he popped some gum in his mouth and started chewing. He spat it out and stuck it on Will's desk while Jung took a hollowed out pen and shot a spitball on the shoulder of Will's blue blazer. Their mentor gave a nonplussed shrug and answered in a flat voice.

"Hmm, would you look at that? Disrespecting a teacher? Detention for both of you too."

Julia raised a suspicious eyebrow to her friends, "This is obviously some kind of stunt. What do you guys think you're doing?"

"We were hoping you could answer the same thing," Kara said as she sat down on a desk nearby and leaned on the chair. Even in her relaxed posture, the veteran Gold Ranger kept a level gaze and looked like she was sizing up a potential threat.

"What are you talking about?" Julia answered indignantly, "I'm fine! All of you are the ones acting crazy right now."

Alex shook his head, "Are you sure about that? Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with that dart you got hit by in the battle the other day?"

Julia scowled at him and spoke with an accusatory tone, "Are you really still on that? You're the one who told Mr. Sheppard and Miss Bishop about all this, weren't you?"

"We were concerned," Jung explained while gesturing to her, "You're kind of scaring us right now Julia. This isn't how you normally are."

"And how do you know that?" Julia sniped back, "You guys barely know me, and you're already acting like you know what's good for me? God, I hate it when people do that, especially my own parents!"

Kara crossed her arms and spoke quietly, "Well, we may not be your parents, but we are still family in a sense. All Power Rangers are in one way or another."

"Including you?" Julia asked.

"Especially me," Kara nodded, "When I was young, I never had much of a family to look after me. I was shunned for being a half-angel and I was put to sleep for thousands of years, only to wake up alone and lost in this new world. But all that changed when I was welcomed by the Vanguard Rangers. They reached out and tried to care for me, even when I thought I didn't need it or want it. And I've seen that same camaraderie between other Rangers I've met over the years. That bond helped me and brought out the best in me."

Julia narrowed her eyes, "That's a nice story and all Miss Bishop, but you really think you know me? If you think that monster's dart all of a sudden turned me evil or something, you're wrong."

"I don't think whatever magic you got hit with yesterday turned you evil," Will explained, "But it brought out something in you… some kind of darker side of you."

Julia laughed, "Or maybe the real me? Maybe I don't actually like being such a nice girl. One who always does what they're told? A scaredy-cat, and a pushover?"

"We don't think you're scared or a pushover," Alex countered, "If you were, you wouldn't have taken up your Infinity morpher or fought the monsters you have already."

Jung gave a nervous chuckle, "We just weren't aware you had such a badass side… I mean, you told off one of the head cheerleaders and freaking broke that jock's hand at lunch!"

"Hmm… whatever," Julia grudgingly said as she folded her arms in petulance.

"Why don't you try trusting us," Kara offered the girl, "Let us help you out?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. You're not my mom Miss Bishop, so just back off and leave me alone, okay?" Julia snarled as she got up and stalked out the door disregarding the rest of her detention.

"Like Jekyll and Hyde," Will muttered quietly as the other Rangers watched in dismay.

Jung shuffled his feet, "So… what now, Mr. Sheppard?"

The Skywarden furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, "We try to get to the root of the problem. Alex? Jung? I need you to do a little something for me."

* * *

Later the next day, Will Sheppard came to the Watchtower after school and went upstairs to one of the studies in order to do some extra work. He carried a second bag with him and upon seeing the Skywarden pass by, Kara put down the book she was reading on the couch and went upstairs to investigate. Within the study, the wizard had already opened several dusty tomes upon a table and laid out what looked to be some kind of simple chemistry equipment. "Will? What are you doing?"

He glanced around quickly before going back to his work, "Oh, Kara. I was going to run a few tests. I had asked Alex and Jung to recover some dart fragments from the monster battle they were in. I was hoping I could study the darts to figure out what they were and if they might be affecting Julia somehow."

He held up some broken black darts and debris from the Stygian's attacks and took some samples. He had already prepared some solutions to test the samples in, but he wrinkled his nose, "Unfortunately, this might take me a little time to figure out. When it came to this sort of stuff in the Skywarden order, my specialty was in ancient texts and spellcraft... not so much potions and medicine."

"Well if there's any demonic magic involved, maybe I could lend a hand?" Kara suggested, "I might not be an expert at the magic stuff, but my Keyrune can still channel Celestial energy. That might help cleanse any taint."

"Thanks. It's worth a shot," Will shrugged, "I'll let you know when I come up with something, okay?"

Just then, they heard the front door open and close downstairs and Kara left the study to go investigate who the visitor was. As she came down the stairs, she was surprised to find Julia putting her bookbag down and flopping on the couch to text a little bit on her phone. The Gold Ranger approached curiously and eyed the younger girl, "Julia? What are you doing here?"

"Didn't feel like going home yet," Julia answered as she texted, "I didn't feel like serving the rest of my detention with Mr. Sheppard either. He's not here, is he?"

"No," Kara lied as she shook her head, "Your mother is a teacher isn't she? Don't you normally ride home with her?"

Julia shrugged as she continued to diddle on her phone, "Yeah but I don't really feel like talking to her right now. She's been on me about the drama club stuff and being annoying because I think she feels guilty about her and Dad dragging me to this new town. "

"Doesn't that bother you at all?" Kara asked pointedly.

Julia stopped and looked over with a small frown, "Why are you so concerned about it Miss Bishop?"

Kara took a deep calming breath and sighed as she decided to try a different approach, "Because I don't want you to overlook how lucky you are right now Julia. You have a mother and father who care about you. Sure, maybe they put you in a tough spot with your move and maybe they're asking a lot, but it sounds like they're still trying to do right. I never had that luxury growing up."

Julia paused a moment as a conflicted look flashed across her features. Kara spoke again, "I know you might be reluctant and scared to start over here, but give things a try. Give your parents a chance. Riverbrook has a lot to offer you, and so do your new Ranger friends. I know getting over your fears and trying new things worked for me."

At that moment, Julia's morpher began to resonate and she pulled it out of her pocket to look at it for a moment. To Kara's shock, Julia simply shrugged and put her morpher back down on the end table before going back to texting. She stared at Julia incredulously, "What's wrong with you? There's trouble!"

"Yeah. I'm sure Alex and Jung can take care of it," Julia said flippantly, "They could use the exercise."

"You aren't even going to help them?" Kara sputtered in annoyance. "Even after everything we just talked about?"

Julia rolled her eyes, "Nah. If you care so much, why don't you go help them?"

Kara scowled as she got up and snatched Julia's morpher, "All right then. I think I will."

"Hey! Give that back! That's mine!" Julia cried indignantly as she jumped to her feet to try and grab the morpher back.

She swiped at Kara's arm but the veteran Ranger batted it aside and shifted her weight to evade any follow-up grab. Julia leapt at Kara and attacked with a flurry of half-grabs and punches which the older Ranger parried aside and swiftly reversed. Kara tried to restrain Julia's arm and grunted as the girl stubbornly twisted and used a grappling counter which Kara had taught them. The two women seemingly danced around the chairs and furniture while locked in their grappling tussle before Kara decided to let go and use more force. She grabbed Julia's arm and spun the teenager around before sweeping her legs out from under her. The Gold Ranger twisted Julia's arm behind her back and pinned her face down to the ground while roughly restraining her, "Enough! Do you give up?"

"Let me go!" Julia demanded as she struggled to break free. It was a futile attempt and she paused a moment to catch her breath. At that moment, Will came down the stairs and stared at the scene in front of him.

"Hey! What the hell is going on in here?"

"Long story," Kara answered as she kept the teenage girl pinned, "Please tell me you have something?"

Will hurried back to the study and fetched a warm cloth and drawing salve made of specially prepared ingredients. He gestured for Kara to pull back part of Julia's shirt to expose the back of her left shoulder. They both saw a sore black spot which had remained from her wound so Will quickly applied the salve paste and cloth to the girl and urged Kara to try using the healing powers of her Keyrune. There was a gentle glow of warm healing light as Kara's morpher channeled some Celestial energy and helped the salve draw out the poison from Julia. Once she had finished, they saw the cloth had absorbed some kind of back chemical before it disintegrated into harmless shadowy dust. To their relief, the black wound on Julia's shoulder was gone and looked to have been healed.

By now, Julia had stopped struggling and groaned as she opened her eyes again in a groggy daze. "I... what happened?"

"How do you feel?" Kara asked as she helped the girl sit up.

"Fine. I think..." Julia answered, "I remember feeling angry and then just seeming to pass out for a minute. What's going on? And why the heck am I wearing these emo clothes?"

Will bent down to study some of the residual dust from the salve, "It looks to me like you were poisoned in your last Ranger battle. It must have messed with your mind because I found traces of dark Stygian magic and blackthorn venom on some of the monster's barbs. If the drawing salve and Kara's magic worked, then you should be okay now."

Julia blinked again as she processed everything from the last couple days with a clearer head, "Oh my God... what did I do? I've been such a huge bitch, and now the guys are in trouble and..."

"And we'll take things one at a time," Kara interrupted in a level voice, "Right now, the other Rangers need your help."

"Right!" Julia answered as she took her morpher back and rushed out the door in a hurry, "Oh, and Mr. Sheppard? Miss Bishop? Sorry for... err, everything."

Amid the messed up common room, Will and Kara simply exchanged a silent look of bemusement hoping they had in fact neutralized all of Shemhazai's dark poison.

* * *

Elsewhere, Alex and Jung had already morphed and engaged the Stygian monster Skorn in battle across town. Both Rangers backflipped over an empty car and evaded a spray of black darts from the Cenobite's rapier as it turned the vehicle into a pincushion. Before Alex and Jung could completely recover their footing, Skorn bounded over the car and charged them to engage in close quarters combat. The two Infinity Rangers swiftly summoned their Prism Sabres and met the furious attack as Skorn lunged and thrusted with his blade to split their formation. Despite their outnumbering the enemy and flanking him on both sides, the Stygian moved with incredible speed to block and deflect the Rangers' sword strikes one after the other.

Even as sparks flew from the collision of the three blades, Skorn rolled off the blocks and parried the amateurish ripostes of the two young Rangers. Even with their basic training, it was clear Skorn was a much more experienced swordsman as he blocked a dual slash from the Rangers and swept the Prism Sabres aside in a surprise disarming move. The Stygian kicked Alex aside and slashed Jung back before blasting the two of them away with another hail of darts from his rapier.

"Damn... is it me, or did this guy get faster than last time?" Jung groaned as Alex helped him to his feet.

"Don't worry Rangers. I'll take my time in killing you before I take your morphers," Skorn laughed sadistically, "And then I'll come for your other little friend. It seems she's abandoned you."

"Shut up," Alex fired back, "Julia didn't abandon us. I don't know what you did to her, but she wouldn't turn her back on us."

Skorn laughed again as he took Shemhazai's vial and applied another dose to his blade, "Don't be so sure Red Ranger. This poison I used came straight from Queen Shemhazai herself. It brings on the darkness and selfishness in each of your weak mortal hearts. It seems that children like you are the weakest of all to divide and conquer."

The Stygian leveled his blade to fire poisoned darts toward the two boys when a yellow figure seemingly came out of nowhere and knocked Skorn down with a a high leaping jump kick. Skorn dropped his rapier as he tumbled to the pavement in a stunned heap while Julia made her appearance, already morphed and fully armed. She turned on her enemy and leveled her own Prism Sabre, "I'm sorry. You were saying something about dividing and conquering?"

"Julia? You're okay?" Jung called out before she gave her two comrades a quick thumbs up.

"Let's just say I'm feeling a little more clear headed right now. I know where my priorities lie and that starts with putting down this shadow monster."

Skorn growled as he crawled on the ground to recover his fallen rapier, "I don't know what you did girl, but I've got another dart with your name on it."

"Not so fast," Julia retorted as she transfigured her Prism Sabre into her personal weapon, a golden shimmering bow, "Soar, Skybreaker!"

Without missing a beat, she lined up a shot and drew back the bowstring of light as a nocked arrow of energy took shape. She let fly the arrow and it struck Skorn's forearm, causing him to drop his weapon. The Stygian screamed in pain in fury as the arrow impaled his arm and seared him with its light. He shot a murderous glare at her and picked up the blade once more with his other hand, only this time he held it more awkwardly, "You're going to pay for that Yellow Ranger."

"Yeah... I don't think so," she answered as she fired another arrow and charged forward to attack.

Skorn batted aside the arrow and barely raised his guard in time to block Julia as she brought her bow around and used it like a bludgeoning weapon. Alex and Jung watched once more in quiet awe of their female comrade's hidden ferocity and daring as she knocked aside Skorn's rapier and pummeled the Cenobite with several more blows. As the Stygian reeled, he stumbled again as Julia hooked his leg and tripped him with the curve of her bow before she spun around, pivoting on her heel to line up a final kill shot.

"Game over Stygian! Now it's my turn to stick it you!" she called as she super-charged her arrow and fired it directly at her foe. The searing bolt of light streaked through the air and shattered Skorn's guard as the arrow pierced through him and exploded causing the Stygian warrior to erupt into an equally spectacular ball of flames and ash.

"All right! Way to go Jules!" Alex cheered as he and Jung came over to congratulate her.

Julia looked to her two friends and gave a quiet nod as she lowered her bow, "Thanks. I'm sorry I came late... but I'm glad you two are okay."

Jung put a hand on her shoulder, "As long as you're okay too."

She paused and nodded quietly, "I will be... but I need to do a couple other things first."

* * *

A few days later, Will Sheppard made his way through the wooded forest preserves near the high school until he reached the grounds of the hidden Skywarden Watchtower. It was an early Sunday afternoon and the autumn skies were crisp and sunny. Upon reaching the home base of Infinity Rangers, he was surprised when he saw Alex and Jung already at the door and preparing to enter. They turned when they saw him and gave looks of surprise. "Mr. Sheppard? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question boys," he said as they opened the door and entered the tower, "Kara called me and told me to come for some kind of meeting."

"She said the same thing," Jung agreed as they entered the central common room of the tower. They stopped and found both Kara and Julia sitting at the main living room table with a plate of freshly made brownies and some hot tea. They looked like they had been talking and they both looked up at the boys' approach.

To the men's relief, they saw that Julia had returned to her old self. She looked to be dressed normally again and her appearance returned to that of her sweet girl next-door look once more. The Yellow Ranger graced them with a friendly smile as they came over to the table and spoke in a slightly sheepish tone, "Oh… hey guys. Thanks for coming. If you're wondering, I was actually the one who called the meeting here today."

"Okay," Will nodded in confusion, "Err… what's all this?"

"Think of it as a little peace offering for all my bad behavior recently," Julia said bowing her head slightly, "I'm really sorry for acting like such a brat Mr. Sheppard. I didn't mean to be so disrespectful in your class those last couple days."

The Skywarden gave a kind smile and shook his head, "That's okay Julia. There's no need to explain. I understand you weren't exactly in your right mind either."

"Maybe, but I still feel like I need to make amends. Alex, I also made a few extra brownies for you here after I acted like a jerk to you at lunch too."

The Red Ranger smiled and took a grateful bite of one of the treats, "Water under the bridge Jules, but I appreciate it. Thanks."

"And Jung, I know you like this kind of green tea so I'm sorry if I had caused you to worry too," she said going down the line and offering the teapot.

Jung poured a cup for himself and offered another one to her, "All is forgiven. We're just glad to have you back"

"Thanks," Julia sighed, "Me too. I just hope that I didn't embarrass myself too badly or scare the student body for good with the way I acted."

Alex patted her on the shoulder with a thoughtful smile, "Well, hey now. Don't get too down on yourself. I actually think there are some positives to be had in all this. For one thing, I've already heard some talk about how people think you're a badass for the way you took on Laura and Scott. I'm sure a lot more people respect you now and know not to mess with you either."

"Better to be feared than loved, huh?" Julia half heartedly joked, "It's a start, I guess."

"Alex might be right," Kara agreed, "You've shown you've got a lot of confidence and courage deep down so don't forget about it either… like the way you were going to get more involved with that drama club at school. You are still going through with that, right?"

Julia nodded, "I am. As soon as I straighten things out with Ashley. Maybe working stage crew won't be so bad after all. Maybe it could be a stepping stone to an audition next year."

"And what about your mother?" Kara prompted her, "Or your parents for that matter?"

Julia relented, "I… believe I could start trying to have a better attitude toward them and meeting them halfway. Are we cool now, Mr. Sheppard?"

"Almost," Will said raising a finger, "Remember, you still walked out of your detention period. Not to mention I covered for you with your mom and Principal Gaylyn. Plus, don't forget about that tussle you had with Kara here."

"Wait... you actually tried to fight Miss Bishop?" Alex interrupted in shock, "Are you insane?"

The Yellow Ranger ignored him and sighed in resignation, "You're right Mr. Sheppard. I'll make it up to you and serve my time after school."

"Actually, I was thinking Kara here could proctor your detention instead. Maybe with some extra PT?"

Julia groaned and simply accepted the punishment, "Well… I guess that's fair."

"Good. Now that that's all settled, we can get back to normal and have a nice quiet Sunday afternoon," Kara said as she primly sat down on the couch with a teacup to enjoy her warm blanket and a book that she was reading.

Alex stopped and looked to Julia, "Wait a second… that's right! It's Sunday! You know what that means!"

"It means you're buying me lunch on Monday!" the Yellow Ranger answered as they rushed over to the small television nearby and turned it on. As they began to push and shove each other to get a better view, Will sat down on the couch next to Kara and laughed to himself listening to the sounds of sports announcers talking.

"I completely forgot too. The Bears game is on today. You don't mind a little extra company this afternoon, do you?"

Kara glanced over to the football game that was starting on tv before giving a sigh, "I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"

Jung came over to sit down in a nearby chair amid the laughter while Julia paused a moment to look at the people in the room. Maybe Kara was right about the idea of a second chance and a second Ranger family after all. If she could learn to fit in with these people and adjust to her new job here, then perhaps she could do the same with her own parents and maybe find a new place in her new home of Riverbrook.


	9. Varsity Blues

**Episode 4: Part 1**

The sounds of grunts and colliding pads filled the air as Julia and Jung left the high school and made their way across campus to the football field nearby. It was a cold overcast day, not uncommon for mid October and Julia huddled inside her coat for warmth. She had finished her work with the drama club that day and met up with Jung who just got out of his own cooking class. They were getting a ride home from Alex but it looked like football practice was going long today.

"The skies look a little threatening," Jung noted, "Hopefully it doesn't ruin Homecoming later this week. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what this American school tradition is all about."

Julia shrugged, "I guess it's more for the jocks and the rah-rah's… especially if you like pep rallies and parades. Plus, the old alum will come and watch a football game."

Jung scratched his chin, "Well, that doesn't sound too bad. There's also a big dance at the end of the week, right? If I had known how it worked sooner, I would have tried to line up a date."

"Ah, don't sweat it," Julia said offhandedly, "I wasn't planning on going either."

"Hmm. You weren't asked, were you?" Jung guessed with a teasing smile which earned a mild scowl from her. He chuckled, "All right, here's an idea. Worst comes to worst, you, me, and Alex all go together in a group as friends? I'm not good at dancing but I'd still like to go and see what it's all about."

Julia lightened up and gave an understanding nod, "Well… sure. I guess I can at least brag that I'm going with two guys, right?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Alex was telling me he was planning to ask one of the cheerleaders to the dance," Jung said, "Some girl named Lindsey Adams?"

They arrived to the field and took some seats in the bleachers to watch their school's football team scrimmaging on the field. The Riverbrook Raptors were already busy going at it with the offense in blue practice jerseys while the defense wore white. Julia took note of the team's hawk-like logo on their helmets before she answered, "We'll see. I know Alex's been more focused on the upcoming game these last couple days. When he found out one of the starting wide-receivers was injured, he told me he was stoked to finally be able to play in a varsity game."

Down on the field, the team's offensive unit started to line up to run another play. Coach Horn called out to Alex on the end, "All right Everett. Let's see what you've got. You run those patterns in the two minute drill and keep making catches till you reach the end-zone. Got it?"

"You bet coach," Alex answered with an enthusiastic nod before he spied his friends in the bleachers. Julia waved and Jung gave an encouraging thumbs-up in the distance. Alex turned his eyes and focused back on the defender in front of him. He didn't catch the sneer given by the quarterback Brad Lowery as he gave a knowing look toward some of the defensemen on the other side of the field.

The moment the whistle blew, Alex sprung into action and put a quick move on the cornerback, cutting in toward the middle of the field. He caught the first pass but was suddenly upended by one of the defensive backs who ignored his own coverage and charged in.

Julia and Jung winced as they watched their friend take a hard hit before he got up and reset for the next play. On the next snap, Alex pushed forward up the field in a vertical route and fought off a defender with his hands to catch another pass along the sidelines. Again, one of the defenders broke their coverage and went after him to knock him out of bounds with a hard shoulder check that threw him face first into the dirt.

Alex sputtered as he shook the stars from his eyes and he struggled to get up from the cold hard grass. He scowled at his teammate who hit him, one of Brad's friends named Carlos Torres, "Hey, what the hell, man? This is practice! Why are you hitting so hard?"

"Quit your bitching and get up Everett," Torres snorted as he hustled off to set up on the field again. He didn't even offer to help Alex up. The Red Ranger shook his head and got back into position on the line of scrimmage, preparing to make his final run. _So far so good,_ he thought to himself. If he could just finish this series, Alex hoped he could impress the coach, even if some of his teammates seemed to be gunning for him right now. He'd just have to worry about that later and focus on the next play.

As he lined up, he heard the quarterback calling out the signals and stopped when Brad changed the play along with Alex's route. Alex blinked in confusion, realizing he was going to be heavily covered as the play started and he scrambled to run his new pattern. Alex shouldered aside the first defender in the way and slanted in toward the middle of the field. The ball came his way like a rocket but was aimed just high causing Alex to stretch. As soon as Alex got his hands on it, he was hit hard from two different sides by a pair of burly linebackers causing him to drop the ball. Alex spun through the air before he was laid flat on the ground and the wind was knocked out of his lungs.

From the bleachers, he thought he heard the faint voice of Julia in the distance yelling in outrage, "Hey! Hey! That was a cheap shot! He was a defenseless player!"

As his vision began to clear, Alex lay in a daze staring up at the dark gray skies gasping for breath while Brad and a few of the other players loomed over him.

"Tough break Everett. You just dropped the ball. That could have cost us the game," Brad Lowery said in a mocking tone.

"You had me run right into that," Alex croaked out as he tried to rise and recover his breath, "You knew damn well that audible was a shit play call."

Brad placed his cleat on Alex's chest and pushed him back to the dirt while glowering over him, "Stay down if you know what's good for you Alex. Coach might think you're decent enough to play, but I still think you're a loser. As long as you're on the field, don't expect me to throw to you and give you any yards."

He lifted his foot from Alex's chest and stalked off with several of the other players leaving Alex laying on the field as practice ended.

A minute or two later, Julia and Jung hurried down to help their downed friend sit up and recover his senses. Julia removed his helmet and patted his cheeks, "Hey, Alex? Are you okay? Those were some pretty nasty hits you took out there. I could swear they were targeting you."

"Forget about it Jules. I'll be fine... but thank you for the concern," Alex groaned as Jung helped him stand and walk a few paces.

"What was all that with the other players? I thought you guys were on the same side."

Alex winced a little and continued to stagger along. He took a breath and lied, "It was nothing Jung. Long story. They're just hazing me a little… making sure I'll be tough enough to play with them this weekend."

His two friends exchanged a skeptical look before Jung sighed, "Well… I guess if we can fight Stygian monsters and take worse hits, then this should be no problem for you, right? Let's get you to the showers and go home before you suffer a real concussion."

* * *

Meanwhile on the dark plane of Stygia, General Noctis stood in the large chamber serving as the war room of Queen Shemhazai's dark cathedral. From the central table, a crystal projected an abstracted map of the cosmos along with the progress of the Stygian takeover. Their enchanted darkness had already swallowed many lesser worlds at the distant fringes of reality and it closed in towards its goal like a spreading cancer or a black claw tightening its grasp.

At the center of the planes was their ultimate goal, Confluence; the nexus of all worlds and the font of their power. As the shadows crept closer, they had been momentarily halted at the edge of a defiant cluster of glittering lights which served as the primary line of defense. This bastion of mortal life was centered on Earth and the key planes which intersected with it, like that of the Faerie Realm, the Underworld, the Celestials' Heavens, and Arcanaeum, among worlds were suffused with the life giving energies of Confluence and its magic helped to empower many of its greatest defenders… like those of the worlds' many Power Rangers. The takeover of the Skywarden Citadel had served as the closest foothold for Stygia's forces but they dared go no further at the moment.

Noctis had removed his helmet and left the horned dragon helm upon the table. He felt more naked and vulnerable without it but in this quiet chamber, it helped him think and gather his thoughts. The color of his skin had begun to grow paler and his features more sallow from the oppressive gloom of Stygia and for a moment, Noctis stared at the beacon which marked the conquered Citadel. It hadn't been all that long ago he had been wearing the blue robes of the Skywardens, serving as a mere functionary to the order. While someone like Will Sheppard would argue that Noctis had sold his soul and humanity to join with the likes of Shemhazai, he had viewed it as a path to power. Noctis had seized an opportunity and now commanded legions of troops while exerting great influence over what he believed to be the winning side in the future. And what of the prideful Skywarden order? They were now in ruins and their survivors scattered to the winds. It was unlikely they would mount any meaningful resistance, even with those new Power Rangers that Sheppard was trying to teach.

Noctis frowned and spared another thought for his old rival. He had wanted to hunt down the Skywarden to finish him off, but Shemhazai had forbidden it for now. It made sense that she wanted to consolidate her newest gains before pressing forward again, but the thought of giving his enemies time to regroup made Noctis uneasy. The fact that he was still in the dark about her future plans did not sit well either, but he would bide his time for now. She did not want to be disturbed at the moment and he would have to accept that.

The chamber doors opened and a new Stygian warrior entered before giving a bow of the head. "General Noctis. I was told to report to you, but not to the queen?"

He looked to be another one of Shemhazai's loyal Cenobites. The warrior had a large powerful build and appeared to be some sort of feral dark satyr. The Stygian had two large menacing horns protruding from his head and he wore heavy armor along his broad shoulders and arms. Noctis turned and examined the new arrival, "Yes Bloodhorn. I understand she does not wish to be bothered right now. In the mean time, we will delay and disrupt the enemy."

"And you require my particular skills to do that?" Bloodhorn asked.

Noctis folded his hands in boredom as he turned to study the planar map some more, "I understand that back on Earth, the Infinity Rangers will be involved in week-long celebrations for their school. A custom they call Homecoming."

"Did you say… party?" Bloodhorn asked with a hint of eager malice in his voice.

Noctis gave a small dismissive laugh, "You are a satyr type creature, aren't you? Aren't wild parties and chaos what your kind do best?"

The Stygian beastman grinned and gave a snort of approval, "Well then… I'm really going to be able to make myself useful right now."

"And for the time being… so will I," Noctis sighed as he looked back to the map and left himself alone with his own dark schemes and quiet ambitions.

* * *

The next afternoon, Riverbrook High was already abuzz with activity. Classes let out early to give the students a chance to finish decorating the hallways and gym, along with adorning the building in blue and white ribbons. Volunteers on other Student Council committees also busied themselves in preparing some floats for the parade which would pass through downtown Riverbrook later that day. As several of the cheerleaders helped paint some murals in the gym and set up for the dance, Julia and her new friend Ashley Vargas put the finishing touches on hanging some balloons and streamers with the rest of the drama club. Ashley stepped back and gave a pleased look as she high-fived the Yellow Ranger, "I have to admit... now I kinda want to go to the dance."

"Hey! The place looks great girls. Nice work here," came a familiar voice as Julia turned to see Will approach.

"Hi Mr. Sheppard. Perfect timing. We were just finishing up here," Ashley explained. to the English teacher.

Will nodded and looked to Julia, "I see. And where are your two partners in crime? Did they avoid getting pressed into service?"

Julia laughed, "No. Jung and his club are busy cooking up some snacks for the volunteers and Alex is helping with the floats... oh, and there he is?"

Everyone turned to see Alex as he entered the gym and looked around. He was wearing his varsity letterman jacket and he proudly brushed some lint off of it before heading toward a group of the cheerleaders nearby. As he neared, some of the girls who were painting one of the murals regarded him curiously. The Red Ranger worked up his nerve and approached one of the attractive blonde cheerleaders named Lindsey Adams and cleared his throat, "Uh, hey girls. The mural looks great. Do you mind if I steal Lindsey for just a minute or two?"

Will, Julia, and Ashley watched closely as Alex stepped aside with Lindsey just out of earshot. Although they couldn't hear what they were saying, it was clear he was probably asking her out to the upcoming dance. After a brief exchange and a few gestures, they saw Alex force a polite smile and slump his shoulders while Lindsey returned to her group of friends. Ashley winced slightly and wore a sympathetic expression, "Ouch. Shot down."

"You can tell from here?" Julia asked.

"Just listen," Ashley answered as she pointed to the cheerleaders. They were already giggling and chattering among themselves as Alex walked away looking slightly deflated.

"Oh my God, did Everett actually try to ask you out? You didn't say yes to that dork, did you? That's pretty ballsy for a benchwarmer. He's waaay out of his league."

There was another peal of giggles from them as Julia frowned feeling a mixture of sympathy and indignation for her friend, "Alex might have shitty taste in women, but I'm thinking I should go break a few more fingers."

Will put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, "Easy does it. I'll go talk to him. Why don't you girls go finish up your work, okay?"

Both of them reluctantly wet back to decorating as Will watched Alex depart out the doors of the gym. He moved to follow his student when he was stopped by Principal Gaylyn who flagged him down waving a paper, "Will! There you are. I'm glad I found you. Do you have a minute?"

"Is it important sir? I'm kind of in the middle of something..." Will answered trying to extricate himself quickly. Unfortunately Principle Gaylyn didn't seem deterred.

"Oh don't worry. It will only take a few minutes. Did you see my memo this morning about school fundraiser ideas for Homecoming? I could really use the input from you teachers."

Will paused and decided to lie, seeing as how he hadn't even gotten around to reading the memo, "Oh... umm, it was great sir. I'm all for it."

The principal smiled brightly, "Really? Which parts did you like most?"

The Skywarden forced a smile and inwardly groaned, realizing that before he could help his student, he would have to get himself out of his own sticky predicament first.

* * *

Later that afternoon, the sound of drums and music of the Riverbrook High marching band filled the air as a small parade made its way down main street of the small town. Locals and store owners all came out to wave while students passed by either marching in the procession or riding floats. Mixed in to the parade were a few other local organizations and sponsors who fielded their own amusing floats or groups of performers. From the sidelines, Jung stood observing the spectacle along with Will and Kara near one of the street corners. A student passed by dressed up as the school's avian mascot, Richie the Raptor, and ran up to give a fist bump to Will when he spotted one of the teachers. As the parade continued on, Jung took it all in with an impressed grin, "Wow... everyone really seems to be getting into the spirit of things. It's kind of infectious, don't you think?"

Kara looked on with a calm and slightly detached expression, "I've always thought it was kind of an unusual tradition, but if everyone is having a good time... well, I guess there's nothing wrong with that either."

"Not to mention the weather is perfect for a parade," Will noted glancing up to the clear bright skies and breathing in the crisp October air, "Hopefully it holds up for the game tomorrow."

"I'm surprised you didn't opt to be in the parade," Kara said gently nudging him with her elbow.

Will simply shrugged with a small smile, "Nah. These events are all about the kids and the school alumni. I'm happy to just sit back and watch."

"Well you'd better look out. There's Alex with the football team!" Jung called.

The three of them watched and saw a lot of the varsity football starters were riding on a float with several of the cheerleaders laughing and waving to people while a small contingent of leftover players were forced to march behind on foot. Among their number was Alex and he wore a less enthusiastic look on his face as he offered a few weak waves to the spectators. Jung and Kara tried to catch his attention and wave as Will looked on quietly, studying the troubled countenance of the young Ranger.

His brief moment of contemplation was suddenly ended as several shrill and panicked cries rose up drawing the crowd's attention. Will, Kara, and Jung all turned to see something had burst up from one of the nearby floats, frightening students and townspeople alike. A large hulking satyr with dark skin and wearing Stygian armor tore his way through the float while giving a malicious laugh. "Where's everyone going? This party is just getting started!"

the Cenobite Bloodhorn used his horns to grab the empty float and flip it over with ease causing more damage and destruction while people scattered. The monster reached for a large handaxe weapon which was secured at his belt and began to take broad cleaving swipes at targets around him. He cut through a nearby lamp pole and split another float in half, relishing in the violent chaos. "I thought you people wanted something to liven the celebrations up!"

"Damn! There are too many people around!" Jung growled as he was caught up in the stampede of fleeing civilians and students. Will nodded in understanding seeing that the Blue Ranger couldn't morph here.

"Stay calm! Just focus on helping get people to safety!"

Kara slipped past a few other people and called out to the Skywarden, "Will! I'll go try to draw that thing's attention!"

She halted as she saw a red burst of light from behind one of the floats as a morphed Infinity Ranger leapt into the air and knocked over the Stygian with a flying jump kick in the back. Alex took a fighting stance and quickly summoned his Prism Sabre in a flash of light as he stared down the dark satyr, "I don't remember inviting you to the party goat face."

Bloodhorn growled as he picked himself up off the pavement and faced the lone Ranger. "That was a lucky shot Red Ranger. But that's all you're going to get."

"You know what? I'm not really in the mood for this," Alex replied, "You only get one warning. Get out of here and leave these people alone."

"Why don't you make me!" Bloodhorn howled as he charged forward and hacked at the air with his axe.

Alex dodged a few swings and swept inside the Stygian's guard before slashing the monster across his armored horns and forehead. The dark satyr staggered back amid a shower of sparks before lashing out with his own horns. The tip caught on the Ranger's blade and with a twist of the head, Bloodhorn disarmed his surprised opponent. He dropped his head and pushed forward, butting Alex in the ribs and knocking the wind out of him but the Red Ranger gripped the horns stubbornly as if he was going to try and restrain him. Bloodhorn snorted and flicked his head back, throwing the Ranger up over his head and into the pavement several yards away.

Alex grunted as he hit the ground and stumbled to get back to his feet, but he wasn't quick enough. The beastman dropped his thick horned head and charged forward like a ram, plowing into the Red Ranger and sending him flying backwards into another float some thirty feet away. As Alex lay stunned amid the ruins of the float, his Stygian enemy hefted his axe and slowly plodded forward to try and finish him off. In a strange echo of earlier events in the week, Bloodhorn loomed over Alex and snorted in derision, "Stay down already and stop pretending to be a Power Ranger. You're already way out of your league. First I'm going to take your morpher. Then I'm going to take your miserable life."

"Hey! Back off!" came a woman's voice as an unmorphed Kara sprinted forward to assist. "Leave the boy alone!"

Bloodhorn stared with incredulous shock at the blonde mortal woman who was sprinting directly at him. Was she completely insane? He grabbed his axe and took a horizontal swing at her as she neared but the Gold Ranger was too quick. She made use of her own superhuman speed and agility to duck the strike and slide under it while grabbing Alex's fallen blade. As she slid near, Kara lashed out and delivered a powerful slash to the monster's thigh causing it to yelp in pain and stagger backward. Just as the wounded Bloodhorn stumbled sideways, he was hit from the side by a powerful arrow of light and thrown back down to the pavement. Kara glanced over and saw Julia had finally arrived from the rear of the parade. The Yellow Ranger hadn't morphed but she had summoned her bow in a hurry to offer some fire support. Thankfully the street had already cleared and no one was left to spot the Rangers, but it wouldn't be long until the police responded either.

The Cenobite snarled as he got back up and clutched his wounded thigh, "I wasn't counting on party crashers. We'll finish this another time Rangers."

He dematerialized into wispy black shadows and retreated from the battlefield to recover while Will and Kara came to help Alex back up after he powered down. Jung greeted Julia with a nod as she lowered her bow and hustled over. "Good timing. We had our hands full with the crowds just now."

"I think we need to make even better time and get out of here before the cops show up," Will added quickly as he hooked Alex's arm over his neck and hoisted his student up. "You gonna be okay there, kid?"

Alex glanced up to his teacher and for once, all his natural confidence and optimism seemed to have been completely drained away. "Honestly, Mr. Sheppard? I'm... not so sure."


	10. Red Badge of Courage

**Episode 4: Part 2**

As late afternoon light streamed in through the windows of the Watchtower, the three Infinity Rangers and their teachers gathered to regroup in the wake of the latest Stygian attack. Jung was the first one to flop down tiredly on the couch of the central common room, "I don't know about all of you, but I'm glad no one got hurt or killed today. That monster attack came completely out of nowhere."

Julia nodded in solemn agreement as she turned to Kara, "Jung is right. Miss Bishop? Do you have any idea why Shemhazai would have ordered an attack like that?"

Kara furrowed her brow and shook her head, "Not at the moment. Wanton violence and destruction really isn't her style unless there's an ulterior motive."

Will crossed his arms wearing an equally pensive look on his face, "Hmm. Perhaps this attack is meant to preoccupy us? But if that's the case... then from what?"

He glanced over to Alex and saw the Red Ranger glumly rubbing a bruised shoulder, "Any thoughts Alex?"

Alex shook his head and gave a sigh, "No. Sorry, Mr. Sheppard. I already screwed up enough today. It's probably best that I avoid making any dumb suggestion and quit while I'm ahead."

The others watched him shuffle off and walk out the door to go back home for the evening. Once he departed, Will frowned in confusion, "What is going on? Is he really that bummed about being turned down by a girl?"

The Blue and Yellow Rangers exchanged a look before Jung hesitantly spoke up, "That... might not exactly be the full story Mr. Sheppard."

"You have an idea?" Kara asked curiously, "Because the last thing we need right now is to have a Ranger be distracted, or stuck in a mental funk."

Julia grimaced slightly and shrugged, "Well, we're not totally sure, but we noticed something when we were watching Alex practice with the football team earlier in the week..."

* * *

The next afternoon, Alex Everett sat by himself in the empty home bleachers of the high school's football field. After the recent monster attack, the town's Homecoming activities had been put on a temporary hold until the danger had truly passed. That was fine by Alex as he sat in the cold air flipping a football around his hands while stewing in his thoughts. He was surprised when he spotted a figure enter the field and head up the entry ramp to the homestand. Alex stopped and blinked as he saw Will stroll up the bleacher steps and approach. He looked like he might have been running some errands as he wore a messenger bag slung over the shoulder of his jacket. The Skywarden gave a wave and clapped his hands, "Over here! I'm open!"

Alex reluctantly tossed a short pass and Will caught the football before coming over to join his student. Will sat down beside Alex and flipped him the ball back, "I take it you didn't come to scout out the other team, did you?"

Alex snorted quietly, "Correct as usual, Mr. Sheppard. We can't get anything past you."

"Well that's not exactly true," Will sat stretching his legs and relaxing while he sat, "That's kind of the reason I'm here. You seemed out of sorts the other day, especially after the battle."

Alex shrugged, "I'm sure Julia or Jung could have told you that."

"But I want to hear it from you," Will prompted him gently, "This wouldn't have anything to do with getting rejected by Lindsey Adams the other day, would it? I was passing through the gym at the time and couldn't help but notice."

Alex turned in surprise and grimaced slightly, "I... well, yes... and no... it's complicated."

"I have time," Will answered patiently as he sat looking out toward the empty football field, "Maybe it has to do with getting crap from the other players on the football team too?"

"Julia and Jung must have mentioned something to you, didn't they?"

Will glanced over, "You have good friends Alex. They told me what they saw because they were a little concerned about you."

The Red Ranger fell silent again and nodded, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts together. After a brief silence, he said, "Did I ever tell you why I joined the football team Mr. Sheppard?"

"Because you love the game?" Will guessed.

"Sure. That's part of it," Alex admitted, "But I also did it because of my dad. He was a great player here. Everyone loved him and told him what a great player he was. Hell, some of his old classmates still do today. I wanted to be like him... to have what he had when he was here."

"You're a pretty good player from what I can tell," Will offered, "If I can be honest, I've wondered why you've been kept on the second string until now."

Alex gave a quiet scoff, "You know how it works Mr. Sheppard. There's politics in everything and football is no different. Do you know why a junior like Brad Lowery is our starting quarterback? His father is a cousin of Coach Horn and a generous donor to the school's sports program."

"All right, what does that have to do with you?" Will asked, "Why would that keep you from playing if you're good enough?"

"Maybe because I got into a fight with Brad when we were freshmen," Alex answered, "He and some of his goons were picking on our classmates so I finally punched him and broke his nose."

"Gutsy," Will noted, "I'm guessing that must have earned you some respect from some of your other classmates."

"I actually got the crap kicked out of me by Brad's friends," Alex snorted, "No good deed ever goes unpunished, right? I guess I thought I could be some kind of hero, and I stayed on the team, refusing to let the others get me down. Brad hasn't forgotten what I did, and neither have a lot of my teammates. It doesn't help he has the ear of the coach."

"I see. Then that's why you don't hang out with the team, or sit with them at lunch either," Will inferred with an understanding nod.

Alex took a deep breath, "I hoped that this year could finally be different... now that I'm on varsity I can finally beat the odds and get a chance to prove myself. To get noticed and appreciated on and off the football field. Seems I expected too much, huh? I only set myself up for disappointment."

He hurled the football away and let it sail on to the empty field. Will watched ball bounce off before speaking calmly, "Did you ever question why you're doing all this in the first place?"

Alex turned and looked curiously as Will reached in his bag and handed him a book, "What's this? A little light reading?"

"Something that might help you," Will answered gesturing to the cover, "The Red Badge of Courage, a story set during the Civil War."

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Alex asked in frustration.

Will cleared his throat, "The main character Henry Fleming joined the Union Army looking for adventure. He wanted fame, glory, and attention from girls and he thought he'd get that by becoming a soldier... until he realized that war is serious business and he was in over his head."

"You're saying I'm being a glory hound then?" Alex asked defensively.

Will shook his head, "As Henry faced adversity, he came to realize that he joined the army for all the wrong reasons. He learned that true courage and manliness came being humble and accepting your limitations... that satisfaction didn't always come from glory and medals, but in meeting one's responsibilities honestly and willingly. I thought being a Power Ranger would have taught you that."

Alex turned to look at Will as his teacher continued, "Why else did you chose to take up a morpher?"

"I dunno. It was the right thing to do. I didn't want other people to get hurt," Alex answered honestly.

"You didn't expect the people of the town to heap praise on you or throw you guys parades, did you?"

Alex gave a sheepish look, "Well... no. I mean, sure it would be nice, but I'm still glad that I can do something good. And I do feel proud to be a Ranger too."

Will smiled and put a hand on Alex's shoulder, "Listen Alex, there's nothing wrong with being a little self interested sometimes... to want things like respect and attention from others. But at the end of the day, you don't need some perfect Homecoming experience or the opinion of others to validate your feelings either. Sure things won't always go your way, but you can find some satisfaction in knowing you did the best you could and that you did things for the right reasons."

Alex took the book and studied it for a long moment as Will clapped him on the shoulder, "At least from where I'm sitting, you still have a lot to be proud of along with some good people who are in your corner. You just have to stop and realize that for yourself."

The Ranger nodded and tucked the book away with a small smile, "I... thanks Mr. Sheppard. I'll give it some thought."

Before he could say anything more, he felt his morpher resonate as it alerted him to a new Stygian attack. Will gave him an expectant look, "Hopefully you won't have to think too long."

Alex answered with a wry smile, "Hmm. Don't worry Mr. Sheppard. There's a battle to be won today and I think I have a good reason to fight it."

The Skywardern remained in place looking on as his student hurried away from the stadium. He had done his part and he hoped that with those words in mind, Alex would be able to do his today.

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side of town, chaos and pandemonium reigned as a local farmer's market crashed by a Stygian monster attack. Townspeople and vendors fled in fear as a small band of Pariah shadowbeasts overturned stalls and rooted through the merchandise. Crates and boxes full of pumpkins and other autumn produce were knocked over and torn apart with the dark satyr Bloodhorn at the center of it all. He took a bite of some pilfered apples before tossing them aside in displeasure. "Loot the stalls and burn them to the ground. If any humans resist... kill them."

Before he could issue any more orders, an arrow made of light streaked by a destroyed one of the Pariahs. Bloodhorn turned with a growl as he heard the roar of an approaching motorcycle.

"We'd like to see you try," came Jung's voice as he quickly pulled up nearby on his motorbike. Riding with him was Julia and both of them had already morphed and called their weapons. As they got off the bike and approached their enemies, Julia prepared another shot.

"You weren't content to ruin our school's homecoming so you resort to farmer's markets? Shame on you."

The Stygian drew his own axe and took a defensive stance, "I was just looking around for a good time. Can you really blame me? Pariahs!"

The monstrous troops turned on their new enemies and shambled toward them with their claws at the ready. The Blue Ranger turned to his comrade, "Shall we show this monster a good time?"

"Let's do it!" Julia answered firing her bow again before the two Rangers met the enemy charge. The two Rangers ducked and wove around the enemy troops, countering their attacks and lashing back with punishing strikes of their own. Jung kicked aside a few claw swipes of some troops while spinning past and knocking them to the dirt with well placed whirling kicks. As he twisted the arm of another Pariah and drove an armored knee into its stomach, he glanced over and caught Julia bashing aside one of the monsters with her bow before using it like a staff to block and parry some other strikes.

Jung kicked the Pariah away and sent it hurtling into its comrades causing a pileup of the foot soldiers. The Yellow Ranger saw her opening and aimed her bow, firing a charged shot which split into several rays of light that disintegrated the rest of the enemy minions. Jung turned back toward Bloodhorn as he moved forward to face the Rangers, "All right hoof head, now you'er all alone."

"Which is more than enough for you!" the dark satyr howled as it charged forward and took broad hacking cuts with its axe. Both Julia and Jung tumbled and ducked around the slashes of their bigger slower enemy before rolling clear and regrouping. Before they could set up for an attack, Bloodhorn lashed his horns out forcing the Rangers to leap away again and stay off balance. No sooner had they landed, Bloodhorn stamped the ground and channeled his own shadow energy into his horns, "You're not the only one with special attacks Rangers. I've got one of my own! Dark Stampede!"

He aimed his horns and fired off a powerful wave of dark energy which cascaded over the battlefield and hit the Rangers like a wall of wind. The stormy gale of dark energy swirled and howled like a herd of wild horses or cattle as it raced by and left the Ranger stunned and trampled into the ground. Bloodhorn strode forward with his axe and snorted, "Too bad your Red friend isn't here. I guess I'll just have to find him later and kill him too."

"Hold it, Horn Face! If it's me you're looking for... you've got it!" the Red Ranger called as he entered from the other end of the battlefield unmorphed.

"Alex? You're here!" Jung sputtered as he tried pick himself up from the ground.

Julia staggered to her knees, "Nice of you to join the party."

"Sorry guys... I decided to come fashionably late," Alex quipped before turning to the Stygian warrior and raising his morpher, "Let me take care of this one everyone. Infinity morpher! Break the Limit!"

In a flash of red light, Alex had donned his red Infinity Ranger suit and brandished his Prism Sabre. The Cenobite laughed, "Please. You want to have a rematch with your little butterknife there?"

"I'll give you one better," Alex answered sternly as he transfigured his weapon into its greater form by calling its true name, "Ignite! Parhelion!"

In another brilliant burst of light, the sword became a magnificent gilded spear with a sunburst motif near the spearhead. The polearm buzzed with energy as Alex leveled his weapon and prepared to fight. The monster gave a furious howl and charged forward with his axe but the Ranger raised his spear and met the attack with a defensive approach. The sound of ringing steel filled the air as Alex deflected and parried aside the blows, using the brute's own strength and momentum against him. In a lot of ways, it reminded him of blocking in the game of football. It was all a matter of speed and leverage for players to get around their opponent or knock them down. In their first battle, Alex had noticed Bloodhorn's legs were smaller and less protected. It was something Kara had likely noticed and exploited when she wounded the monster before. He wouldn't be able to beat this guy head on, so Alex knew he had to take a different approach.

He deflected another blow and rolled low using his spearhead to slash the Cenobite along his thigh. Bloodhorn howled and staggered sideways before lashing out with his axe. The Red Ranger tumbled around it and struck again at the monster's wrist, nicking him in the arm and causing his foe to drop the axe. The Stygian snorted in fury and whirled around charging forward with his horns, "Enough of this Red! I'm going to trample you into the dirt!"

Alex adjusted his stance and waited patiently as the monster neared, surging forward at full speed. At the last moment, the Ranger dropped to his knee and raised his spear to strike underneath, just as a medieval pikeman would meet a cavalry charge. Bloodhorn gasped and tried to veer clear of impaling himself, barely succeeding. The monster turned his body but the glowing spear glanced off his flank and ripped a deep gash which leaked shadowy essence from it. As he refused to be deterred, Bloodhorn tried to stamp his hooves and trample the Ranger underneath but Alex slipped past and thrust his spear between the Stygian's legs causing the monster to trip on the weapon. The wounded Bloodhorn roared again in pain, fury, and embarrassment as he fell face first into the dirt. Amid the cloud of dirt and dust kicked up, the monster rolled over and thrashed about, "I'm going to tear you limb from limb! Where are you Red Ranger!"

"Right here!" Alex called as he took a flying leap and aimed his spear downward on his enemy. The dark satyr's eyes went wide in sudden shock and fear as the sunlight glinted off the Ranger's spear and Parhelion seemed to flare to life with fiery golden energy. Alex hurtled down on his foe with his weapon fully charged for a finishing strike. "Time to end this... Final Flare! Infinity Strike!"

"No!" Bloodhorn roared as the Ranger landed on top of him and drove his spear clean through him. There was a column of bright concentrated light that seemed to crash down from the heavens and into the spear as if it were a magical lightning rod. One moment later, a shockwave of red light burst from the spear, kicking up the air as well as completely disintegrating the Stygian in a spectacularly violent fireball. As Alex emerged safely from the epicenter of the monster's destruction, he lowered his spear and its buzzing glow faded away.

He turned to his two fellow Rangers who were now watching in quiet surprise over what had happened. Alex spoke first, "Are you two okay?"

"We are now," Jung answered, "I... are you okay? What just happened right now?"

"Long story," Alex admitted, "But for now, let's just say I needed to take a brief time out and speak to my other coach... Coach Sheppard."

Julia nodded and smiled, "Well whatever the case, we're glad to have you back on the field. Now that the monster's toast, are you going to be ready for the other game that's left to be played?"

Alex began to head off from the battlefield and lead the other Rangers home to rest, "I guess there's only one way to find out for sure, right?"

* * *

The following afternoon, the football stadium of the local high school was packed as the Riverbrook Raptors finally played their postponed Homecoming game against one of their conference rivals, the Willowdale Wildcats. The day was cold and the sun peeked in and out of the partly cloudy skies above casting occasional shadows on the field. The crowd cheered again as the ball moved forward again and the game began to wind down. It had been a hard back and forth match between the royal blue Raptors and their Wildcat rivals who had donned their gray and yellow uniforms today. The clock was winding down to the final two minutes of the game and Riverbrook was still down by five points. As the teams collided again, Alex grunted as he stood his ground and helped block another rush of Willowdale defensemen. As Brad had promised, Alex was not called on to run any passing plays so he decided to make himself useful by grinding away and absorbing hits while his teammates advanced the ball some more.

Up in the home stands, Jung covered his eyes as other locals and Riverbrook students reacted to the latest play, "Oh geez! This is getting too close to call. I can't watch!"

"Says the guy who barely understands the rules," Julia teased gently as she waved a small blue pennon and gave a cheer toward the field. "Wooo! Go Raptors! First down!"

Kara sat with the two younger Rangers and shook her head with a quiet smile, amused by the excitement and passion of the other kids around her. She glanced over and made some room on the bench as the Rangers' other mentor returned from the concession stand and sat down in his seat.

"So... what did I miss?" Will asked as he sat down and handed cups of hot chocolate to Julia and Kara.

"The Raptors just got another first down at the fifteen yard line and called their last time out," Julia reported, "They've got one, maybe two plays left to score."

Kara narrowed her eyes toward the field and scanned over the blue jerseys, "I wonder if Alex is out there. Do you think he'll be able to do anything?"

Will smiled quietly as he watched the teams huddle up, "Don't worry. He'll be okay. I know it."

Down on the field, the Raptors team huddled as Brad Lowery called their play. "All right. We're going to run a trick play. The Wildcats are expecting a sideline pass so we'll run a double reverse around the right side. Jackson, you take the ball."

The team's running back paused, "You sure? Everett is the fastest and can get around the end..."

"Don't argue Jackson! You're taking the ball," Brad insisted before giving Alex a scowl, "And you, keep blocking on the far side where you belong."

Alex growled as the team broke their huddle and lined up to run their last play. Alex tensed and watched the play clock running down as Brad made adjustments on the line and switched into a hard snap count."Blue 80! Blue 80! Set..."

Even from his spot on the end, Alex watched the Wildcat defense shift and realized the Raptors would need help on the other side of the line. Couldn't Brad even see that? As much as Alex hated to disregard his assignment, he knew the game was on the line and something had to be done. Screw it. If the quarterback and Coach Horn were going to get mad at him, then so be it. Amid the cheering from the stands, the ball was snapped for the final play of the game as everyone went into motion. The front lines of the two teams collided with each other in a violent tussle as the ball was handed off to the first running back.

Alex broke away from his blocking assignment and turned to rush across the rear of the line as the Raptors carried out their trick play and reversed the run around the the other end. As the the Raptors' other running back turned to get to the edge of the right side of the field, he was surprised when he was suddenly joined by Alex leading the way. The Red Ranger blocked one of the Wildcat cornerbacks and gave him a shove to force the player out of bounds. As they continued to run, Alex spotted another defensive back bearing down to try and stop the run before they reached the goal line. To the surprise of the Wildcat safety, Alex dropped his shoulder and tackled the final defender to the ground allowing Jackson to sprint the last five yards to the goal line unopposed.

The home crowd went wild with cheers and applause as several players and spectators rushed the field to congratulate Jackson for scoring the game winning touchdown. As he got up off the ground, Alex removed his chin strap and gave a satisfied smile even as people rushed past him to celebrate in the end zone. He might not have made the game winning score or gotten any attention or glory for his actions, but it didn't really matter. He had worked hard and done his job helping the team secure a win. Even if he had been forced to take hits and block all game, he was still able to take pride in the way he played and the selfless actions he took. Maybe one day his other peers would see it or acknowledge it, but today he was satisfied with being an unsung hero and that was all that really mattered.

"Hell of a blocking job there Everett," came a voice as Alex turned to see Will and the rest of his Ranger friends come to greet him. As he neared, Will gave his student a proud smile and offered a little military style salute with his hand. Alex caught the meaning and returned the salute with a tired laugh.

"Thanks Mr. Sheppard. Maybe I didn't quite get to be the kind of hero that I wanted today, but that's all right. Right now, I'm happy with who I am and what I have."

Jung clapped his comrade on the shoulder pads with an encouraging hand, "Well don't worry. Hero or not, we still think you're one."

"What he said," Julia agreed as she joined them from the other side and gave Alex a hug.

A few paces away, Kara studied Alex as he removed his helmet, "Are you going to be okay Alex? It looks like you've got a nasty bruise."

Sure enough, there was a large bruise forming along Alex's brow from the repeated blows that his helmet had taken. Alex touched it gingerly and looked to Will, "Ah well. That's okay. I guess this is my own red badge of courage, huh?"

"Well, more like a black and blue badge of courage... but sure. Why not?" Will chuckled warmly, causing everyone to laugh too.

"Whatever you want to call it, hopefully you can clean it up a little before we all go that Homecoming dance later tonight, okay?" Julia reminded Alex.

Jung led the way as Alex headed off the field toward the showers, "She's right. Clear the way everyone! Unsung Hero coming through!"

As his friends cleared a path for him, Alex couldn't help but smile in appreciation toward them. Maybe he had been looking for respect and acceptance in all the wrong places before. If there was one thing he was sure about with this new group of Ranger friends, he was glad that he had finally picked the winning team after all.


	11. Stage Fright

**Episode 5: Part 1  
**

Weak rays of sunlight streamed from the red and golden leaves above as Will Sheppard made his way from the wooded trail to the hidden Watchtower. He rubbed his hands to ward off the early evening chill and stepped into the inviting warmth of the Skywarden outpost. Upon entering the tower's central living room, he found the place was strangely empty. Will looked around the first floor before heading toward the stairwell leading to the upper floors. "Kara? Hey, are you here?"

He made his way upstairs passing by several of the other rooms and finding them empty as well. It wasn't until he reached the top floor that he found the door leading out to the rooftop was slightly ajar. He poked his head outside and was surprised to see the familiar blonde woman standing alone near the balcony looking out toward the east. The roof of the tower cleared the treetops allowing a panoramic view of the clear October skies. From where he stood, it looked like Kara was looking out over the sea of colorful trees toward the skyline of the city on the horizon. She had her back turned and didn't seem to notice Will as he approached slowly.

He cleared his throat and joked in a half-serious voice, "Don't do it Kara. You have so much to live for."

Kara turned around in surprise before rolling her eyes, "Will? I… very funny. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he remarked, "Standing out here in the cold staring at the sky?"

Kara shrugged, "Hmm. I think I might have been feeling a little homesick. Don't get me wrong, staying at the tower these past few months has been nice…"

"But it's not Hyperion Falls," Will nodded in understanding as he joined her at the balcony looking out over the horizon.

Kara quietly smiled to herself, "I've always liked high places and I was just missing the sight of the mountains back home."

"Well, we might not have any mountains here in Illinois, but we've still got something," Will answered while gesturing toward the city skyline. He folded his arms and gave a thoughtful look, "Speaking of which… it's Friday evening. I came to ask what you were doing tonight."

Kara turned and looked at him, "I didn't have any particular plans. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was planning to head into the city and I was curious if you wanted to come too."

Kara raised an eyebrow and regarded him with mild suspicion, "You're not asking me out on a date here, are you?"

Will blinked in genuine surprise and quickly attempted to clear things up with a flustered voice, "I…what? No. That's not what I was getting at. Halloween is coming in just a few days and there were some holiday activities going on downtown. There's a big haunted house, parties, a costume exhibition, and some horror films being shown at Navy Pier and I planned to go with the Rangers. I thought you might want to get out tonight and join us for some fun."

Kara seemed to accept the answer and lowered her guard slightly, "Oh? Well… I suppose a little recreation would be good for the team. I think the kids have earned it."

"I'm glad you agree." Will smiled, "They should be arriving at the tower shortly. Oh, and Kara… costumes are optional for the event."

"Don't count on it. I've never been much for Halloween," she said crossing her arms with a sigh, "Why people would ever want to run around in the guise of demons and monsters is beyond me. I take it you enjoy the holiday?"

He paused for a long moment and a brief shadow crossed over his features before he looked back to her with a more neutral expression, "Well sure. I mean, candy and horror films are great and all, but it's the one time every year that we can pretend to be something we're not and enjoy being scared."

Kara snorted in mild amusement as they headed back inside, "Oh? And what are you afraid of Will Sheppard?"

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand and brushed the question off, "The only thing I'm afraid of is missing out on a fun night out with some friends. Now come on, let's start getting ready, huh?"

As they headed down the stairs, Kara shook her head to herself and watched the retreating form of the Skywarden. She had caught that brief shadow on his face and wondered if he was being completely straightforward. Perhaps it would be best to let it be and think about it more later. For now at least, she'd worry about dealing with holiday revelers, costumes, and the impending chill of the downtown lakefront.

* * *

Later that evening, the three Infinity Rangers and their two teachers emerged from a small portal of light into a quiet secluded corner of Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Twilight had already begun to set in across the large urban park and no one had seemed to notice the magical arrival of five people from some dense hedgerows. The portal quickly closed and the three teens looked around with impressed smiles. Jung pulled up the warm collar of his stylish blue bomber jacket and gave a low whistle, "That's a pretty great spell Mr. Sheppard. It's a lot faster and cheaper than taking public transit into the city."

Will buttoned up his dark blue car coat and chuckled, "Actually, it's all about harnessing the powers of the light and letting it teleport you where you need to go. With a little practice, I'll teach you three how to make short jumps and that should help you respond quicker to future monster attacks."

"Hopefully we don't miss and wind up in the drink," Julia giggled as she gestured toward toward the city's lakefront nearby and pulled her yellow scarf closer around her neck, "Lake Michigan is not exactly the right place to go swimming at this time of year."

"I agree," Alex said while he looked around the park to get his bearings, "Though... are you sure you didn't miss your target Mr. Sheppard? Navy Pier is a little ways north of here. This looks more like Grant Park."

Will nodded and began to lead them north along the walking path, "Well, remember this is downtown. There's always a lot of people and tourists around the pier so it's not like we can just portal in without anyone noticing. Besides, it's a nice night. I figured we could walk a few blocks and take a short bus ride from here. The park should be less crowded and..."

"And you might want to rephrase that," Kara said as she tapped his shoulder and pointed ahead, "Look at that."

After rounding a bend, the Rangers stopped and gawked at a giant circus tent which had been set up along with a crowd of curious people. As the Rangers neared, they saw menacing looking lanterns which hung from the outside and lit up the dark red tents. The lanterns appeared to be fashioned out of bone and wrought iron which was twisted into sinister designs. Roustabouts and circus performers dressed like demonic jesters and clowns passed out fliers, inviting people to come in to the show. They all directed visitors to the entrance of the main tent which opened up like a creature's maw. At the top of the entrance hung a large lit-up sign which looked like it was made from blood spatters advertising the circus as 'The Carnival Macabre.'

"Hey! This place looks pretty cool," Jung admitted as they looked around and admired some of the sinister Halloween decor, "A horror circus sounds like a fun idea, don't you guys think?"

"Yeah, just put on your Goth clothes again and you'll fit right in here," Alex teased Julia earning a punch in the arm from her.

At that moment, a male performer dressed in a red and black costume resembling a demonic harlequin tumbled over and offered an advertisement to them. The man's two colored face was twisted into a malevolent grin, "Come one, come all! Stare into the face of your darkest fears and witness the greatest show on earth... because it will be the last one you'll ever see!"

The jester bounded away with a maniacal cackle while the Yellow Ranger shook her head and turned back to their teacher, "What do you say Mr. Sheppard? Do you guys want to take a short detour and catch an early show? It looks interesting."

Kara cringed slightly and wrinkled her nose, "I hate demons... and clowns make my skin crawl too. "

"Oh, don't tell me the great Gold Vanguard Ranger is afraid of some harmless goofballs with big shoes and rubber noses," Will joked before he also got a swift punch in the arm from the older female Ranger.

Kara looked to the three young Rangers before relenting with a sigh, "Oh, all right. Fine. If you three really want to go."

"Awesome!" Alex grinned as he led this two friends into the main tent with a spooky voice, "Let's get our tickets... and meet our doom!"

A short while later, the pavilion had filled up and a large crowd of onlookers sat circling three large rings. More grisly skull lanterns hung from the ropes casting a faintly hellish ambiance with flickering reddish orange light. As the teenage Rangers sat quietly bantering between themselves with anticipation, an artificial smoke cloud began to seep in and swirl around the rings. From the fog, a figure with diabolical looking facepaint emerged from the center ring wielding a torch and a bullwhip made of spiked chains. He wore a tattered ringleader costume with a top hat and gave a grand sweeping gesture, grinning amid the applause, "Welcome everyone to the Carnival Macabre! I, the Great Grimmaldo will be your host tonight and treat you to a series of grisly spectacles. We'll entertain you with sights and sounds that you've never seen, indulge your darkest desires, and let you experience pure... unadulterated... terror!"

Loud music blared as the tent went dark and strobe lights went off. Figures dressed like evil harlequins dropped from the ceiling on ropes which resembled nooses and they nimbly jumped off to land gracefully on the ground of the center ring. They each carried torches that the ringmaster lit and the monstrous acrobats began to blow out gouts of fire from the torches to amaze and startle the audience. More performers with skeletal masks rose from the mists twirling fire sticks and tumbling about to more loud applause. As that was going on, a uniform symbol began to glow from the masks of the performers. Both Will and Kara immediately recognized the malevolent sigils and felt their stomachs drop. Kara grabbed her comrade's sleeve in dread, "Will..."

"I see it," he hissed quietly through gritted teeth, "Those are Cambion markings."

Before he could say anything else and warn their charges, a litter was carried in by a pack of demonic attendants in clown makeup. Riding atop the litter was a female figure in fine flowing robes colored in black and red and. Crowning her head and shielding her eyes was an ornate ceremonial headdress which was of regal yet sinister design. Kara felt her heart stop as she looked upon the pale monstrous woman who had been one of her people's ancient enemies and a nemesis of her own Ranger team. The demonic witch and queen of Stygia reclined in her chair and looked about with amusement through the ghastly fanfare. Kara rose quickly and moved to get clear of the stands with her friends, "We have to go now!"

As the younger Rangers sputtered in confusion, the ring leader Grimmaldo cracked his whip as beams of spotlights were directed toward them, "And where do you think you're going? Our guest of honor has just arrived. Your leaving would be very disrespectful."

There were some murmurs of confusion from the crowd as they weren't sure if this was part of the act, or if something bad was actually wrong. Will looked about and stepped forward to protect his students, "I don't know how or why you're here Shemhazai, but you'd better stand down right now."

The monstrous Grimmaldo snarled at having been ignored but Shemhazai raised her hand to calm him. She smiled and calmly regarded Will, "I don't think you're in any position to make threats here Warden Sheppard. You were the ones who walked into my trap and now you are going to amuse me tonight... by becoming part of the main act."

She gave another devilish grin and snapped her fingers causing the entire tent to be filled with jets of smothering darkness. The terrified screams from the civilian audience echoed in the dark as the three Infinity Rangers were blinded and choked on all sides by the suffocating blackness of the evil magic. It wasn't long before the Rangers were overcome by the waves of Stygian darkness as the Cambion sorceress stole away their strength, followed by their consciousness.

* * *

A soft touch warmed Will's cheek and gently pulled him back from the chill and dread of the Stygian darkness which had swallowed him. He gave a mild groan and stirred, now aware of the cold hard ground beneath him. He groggily opened his eyes and was greeted by the familiar face of Kara sitting over him. Her cold blue eyes looked him over in relief and she gently patted his cheek again to rouse him, "Will. You're awake. Are you alright?"

"I think so," he mumbled as he slowly sat up, "How long were we out?"

Kara shook her head, "Hard to say. I woke up not long before you did. As for the time..."

She tapped her wristwatch and Will saw that the hands had stopped moving. He nodded in understanding, "I see. Maybe we're in some kind of pocket dimension? One where time and physics can get a little screwy?"

Kara narrowed her eyes and looked around to survey their environment, "Where are we anyway?"

Their surroundings looked to be some kind of large underground dungeon which opened up and sprawled ahead of them. In some ways it reminded Will of the underground ruins of the Roman Colosseum but the resemblance stopped at the grim stone carvings and reliefs on the wall along with dim lanterns which lit their path. An oppressive gloom hung over the corridors while the intermittent sounds of a distant audience echoed from above causing the Skywarden to shrug, "I don't know. Maybe we're under the carnival grounds? We have to find the kids."

Kara nodded in agreement and used her Ranger powers to summon one of her scimitar blades to her hand. Will called upon his own Prism Sabre and cast a rudimentary spell to conjure a glowing orb of light to his other hand. Although they now had a reliable light source, the oppressive Stygian gloom around them dampened the normally bright glow of the orb. The two navigated around a few narrow corridors before the path opened up to a larger chamber. To their horror, they once again came across the demon witch Shemhazai. She stood in boredom sipping a glass of blood red wine and admiring the demonic reliefs carved into the black stone walls. At once, the room lit up in a dim menacing glow as she turned slowly to greet the two with a predatory smile.

"Warden Sheppard, there you are. And Kara Bishop... I remember you too. It's been a while since we last met, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough!" Kara growled as she leveled her sword, "How did you escape the Abyss? And where are the Infinity Rangers?"

Shemhazai laughed, "My dear girl, you can put your sword away. I seriously doubt you'll even be able to hurt me as I'm not actually here."

Will paused a moment before narrowing his eyes, "You're projecting yourself. An avatar?"

The dark demigoddes smiled, "Not an easy feat, especially from the distant plane of Stygia... but when you have aspirations to divinity, nothing is impossible, isn't that right?"

She took a sip of her wine and idly paced along the wall looking at the relief carvings, "Spending several more decades in the Abyss gave me a lot of time to think... to reflect on what a fool I was for letting Archangel Gideon use me like he did... and to vow not to make the same mistakes. I will achieve his goal, but go one step further."

"Confluence," Will chimed in with dread, "You want to become divine and use its power to rule all the realms, don't you?"

Shemhazai laughed, "Upon escaping the Abyss and finding myself in Stygia, they were all too willing to accept me as their goddess and savior. The other realms will eventually come to the same conclusion."

"You're insane you vile witch," Kara spat, "We're never going to let that happen! If you've come to kill us..."

"I don't much care about you, half-breed" Shemhazai sniffed derisively, "I came to speak with the Skywarden. He's the one I want."

Will exchanged a puzzled glance with Kara before turning back toward the witch, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not exactly my type."

A flicker of irritation crossed Shemhazai's lips, "I would refrain from insolence Warden Sheppard... lest something unfortunate happen to your young Rangers."

"They're here? Where are they?" Will demanded.

Shemhazai took a long sip of wine, "They're being held at the carnival grounds above and they're safe... for now. You can feel free to navigate the tunnel and find an exit to save them, or you can make a deal with me."

"What's your offer?" the Skywarden demanded but Kara pulled his arm.

"Will! You aren't seriously considering bargaining with her, are you? She's a demon. You know how their deals work."

Will turned back to the witch queen with a deadly serious glare, "My students are in danger. What is your price?"

"It's simple. I want you to join my side," Shemhazai smiled, "You see, if I'm going to be conquering more worlds, I'm going to need prominent warriors and mages who can command great respect and make others listen. Perhaps negotiate bloodless surrenders. Swear your allegiance and your soul to me, and I let the children go unharmed."

Will scowled venomously, "You need heralds for your cause? Didn't you already get what you needed when you turned General Noctis against us? Maybe you should have thought of that before you massacred the Skywardens."

Shemhazai laughed, "Oh, you and him are really not that different. He was smart to realize that he was on a losing side. You my dear are still in denial. Deep in your heart, you know that you're fighting a hopeless battle. Even worse... you, a teacher and steward of children are asking them to help fight in your war. That doesn't sound very noble or heroic, does it?"

Both Will and Kara could feel the witch using her words laced with demonic magic to confuse and demoralize her foes. She wanted to break their spirits and she pressed on with her psychic attack, "You know that despite your best efforts to train those children, they are not ready. If they face me, they will die and their blood will be on your hands. You will have failed them... just as you failed all your fellow Skywardens."

Will clutched his head and angrily tried to shake off her psychic assault, "Shut up! I won't listen to your poisonous lies!"

He raised his blade and called out a quick incantation. A small cluster of magic missiles streaked across the room and the energy bolts blasted holes one of the walls but Shemhazai was already gone. They heard her laugh as her avatar emerged from the shadows on the opposite corner of the room unharmed by the evocation spell. "Tsk, Tsk, Warden Sheppard. Your facade has finally begun to crack. Such fury and violence is unbecoming of a Skywarden."

He growled at her taunt and leveled his blade again to call up another spell, "I won't let you harm my Rangers! I'll do whatever I have to do to stop you!"

"You'll do anything?" Shemhzai mocked him, "I've always loved the way you humans rationalize your evil deeds. The more you kill with anger and vengeance in your heart, the closer you come to our side. And I can sense, there is quite a lot of it in your heart already."

Will prepared to attack again when he felt Kara's firm hand on his forearm, gently urging him to lower his blade. She fixed him with a calm, level gaze, "Easy Will. Don't let her goad you. That's what she wants."

He paused and took a deep calming breath while keeping his scowl on the witch. Kara called out, "You're wasting your time Shemhazai. We'll take our chances in your cavern and we'll save the Rangers."

The witch queen laughed as she stepped back to melt away into the shadows, "Like Dante in the Inferno. Best listen to the precious angel on your shoulder Warden Sheppard. You're going to need it if you hope to find your Rangers in time."

Once the echoes of her mocking laughter faded from the cavern, Kara looked to her companion with a hint of concern, "Are you going to be okay Will?"

He called up his orb of light again and strode forward with a hard look on his face, "How I feel doesn't matter right now. The kids are in danger and we don't have a lot of time. Let's go."

For the second time today, Kara watched Will depart with a dark shadow hanging over his head. Instead of being his usual calm and good natured self, her friend was now sullen and irritable. She wondered for a moment if it was Shemhazai's magic at work... or perhaps there was something else in play. She gripped her blade and quietly followed him down the corridor, wondering what other revelations those dark pathways would bring.

* * *

Meanwhile, the three young Infinity Rangers awoke from their comatose state to the sound of gaps and nervous applause. As they cracked their eyes open, they found themselves trapped within wrought iron cages which dangled above the three rings of the monstrous circus. Once again, the tent was lit by the hellish glow of the red lanterns while the rest of the civilians sat in the benches as a literal captive audience. Below the Rangers, they could see the audience had been forced to watch a group of demonic clown acrobats performing daring leaps through some death traps while a couple of skeletal warriors walked a tight rope nearby and waved to the teens.

From her cage, Julia recoiled in dread before turning back to her friends in the nearby cages, "Hey, are you guys all right?"

"Aside from being trapped here in literal clown world, I'm great," Alex grunted as he struggled against the restraints which bound the Rangers' hands, "Guys, I can't reach my morpher."

Jung began to struggle and rock his cage slightly while the macabre circus performers continued their routines below, "We have to try and break free. And where is Mr. Sheppard and Miss Bishop?"

"I don't know, but hopefully they find us soon because I think we're in a little trouble," Alex replied as the ringmaster Grimmaldo cracked his whip and addressed the crowd below.

"And now, for something completely different! Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce our three audience volunteers? They are here to help us in the grand finale!"

Several spotlights turned on the Rangers' cages and they were blinded by the glare. The ringmaster turned to one of the other monsters present, a dark harlequin who began to juggle a group of flaming skulls. The juggler tossed several of the grisly objects into the air before lobbing one toward another ring where a hapless demon roustabout was standing. The flaming skull landed on the minion and exploded with a loud fiery bang. The blast left nothing but a charred crater and the ringmaster didn't bat an eye toward the demise of the lowly monster.

Several of the other monstrous performers of the Carnival Macabre began to cackle and laugh with uproarious laughter before prompting the human audience to add their unsettled murmurs.

Grimmaldo didn't seem the least bit phased as he pointed toward the cages giving the juggler his ultimate target, "We're going to end this show with a bang... and hopefully a little bloodshed too! But first, a little target practice! Everyone, put your hands together and prepare to be blown away!"


	12. The Greatest Showman

**Episode 5: Part 2  
**

Down below in the dungeons of the carnival pocket dimension, Will Sheppard and Kara Bishop pressed on through the gloom, navigating though the dark narrow corridors of the winding maze. From time to time, they heard the raucous noises of the carnival's acts echoing in the air and Kara used her sharp hearing to narrow down the right pathways to follow. For a time, they walked in silence guided only by the muted magical light of the Skywarden's cantrip until Kara finally sighed and decided to address the elephant in the room, "I couldn't help but notice that Shemhazai had seemed to strike a nerve with you back there. You've been sullen and agitated since the encounter."

"I'm just worried about the Rangers," Will muttered, "I'm worried about finding them in time... worrying if they're hurt, or suffering right now..."

"We'll find them," she answered but Will turned quickly with a frown.

"Really? What makes you so sure?"

The Gold Ranger remained calm and fixed him with a stoic expression, "You're not thinking clearly right now Will. Right now you have to set aside your feelings of fear and focus on the objective."

The Skywarden continued forward while speaking in agitation, "I have every right to be freaking out right now. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let us walk into this stupid trap. I should have just driven us all to Navy Pier instead and..."

"And what's done is done," Kara answered firmly, "We can't change the past and we couldn't have known this would have happened."

"Maybe, but the safety of the Rangers is still my responsibility and I let them down. Me. Maybe Shemhazai was right about one thing. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten Alex, Jung, and Julia mixed up in all this."

Kara frowned, "They made their choice to take up their powers and they made the choice to follow your lead. They may be young, but they aren't children either. Your job as a Skywarden is to..."

Will cut her off angrily with an edge in his voice, "Don't lecture me right now Kara! You know nothing about my past! Nothing! I lost my wizard order... my friends and comrades to that witch, and now the Rangers..."

"Just as I lost my own people to Shemhazai's kind," Kara replied as they stopped to face each other in a heated standoff, "Those Cambion demons were once my own angelic brethren too. Stop and think Will. Shemhazai wants you dead or in service to her for a reason. She fears you because she knows the Rangers can stop her. The three Rangers who are as strong as they are right now because of you. They have the power to defeat her and by extension, so do you."

She paused a moment and sighed, "I haven't known you long, but from what I've seen, you have a good heart Will. Shemhazai's evil words are making you forget that, but I understand... it's okay to feel confused and hurt right now. Sometimes when we lose people we care about, we pretend not to hurt. We pretend we're too tough to care, until we stop pretending... and caring. That is the pitfall I want you to avoid."

"Speaking from personal experience?" he asked in a gentler voice as they calmed down and started walking again.

"Something like that."

She paused and watched him quietly as they continued to walk, "You've really started to care about those three, haven't you?"

"Of course I do," he said, "I'd think you of all people would understand. Didn't you say your own Rangers back home had become your family?"

Kara nodded, "Yes. They've been there for me in ways that no one else could be. They've given me something I never really had before. But I'm sure you must have other family..."

"No," Will said darkly, "The Skywardens were my family... and maybe to some degree the students I teach, including the Rangers."

Kara shook her head, "Will, I don't understand. How is it..."

"I don't have any blood relatives... at least none that I know of. Ever since I was too young to remember anything, I grew up in a foster home," he said with a deep sigh, "It wasn't all bad. I was taken in by a city cop and his wife and they were nice people. But..."

"But it was with your wizard order that you found your place," Kara inferred in an understanding tone.

Will grimaced quietly, "I couldn't do anything more for them when the Citadel was overrun by the Stygians. The Rangers are helping carry on the order's mission and they're all I have now. I'm not going to fail them too. I made a personal vow that I wouldn't. You had asked me before what I feared. Well... now you know my greatest one."

They turned a corner and found themselves in a hallway lined by large dark mirrors on both sides. The mirrors stood at attention like two long rows of tombstones causing Will to halt abruptly, "Hold it. Something feels off. I think there's some kind of enchantment on this hallway, but I can't tell what exactly."

"You can really sense it?"

"Wizard. Remember?" he reminded her as he closed his eyes and felt at the air. He tried to get a sense of the weave of arcane energies around them but in a place like this, a lot of the Stygian magic was unfamiliar and strange. Will frowned and quietly muttered another incantation to create a small sphere of faint light to surround them. The air rippled gently as the abjuration spell shimmered around them. Will advanced slowly, "Stay close. I don't know what to expect, but this warding spell should offer us a little bit of protection."

They walked together along the corridor keeping a wary eye on the mirrors lining the wall. In the dim light, they saw their reflections waver and bend causing Kara to grip her scimitar, "Who knew the Carnival Macabre had funhouse mirrors too? Except there's nothing fun about them."

Will glanced over at a nearby mirror and halted in fear as he saw different forms begin taking shape in the glass. On each side of the hallway, he began to see reflections of his fellow Skywardens materialize in the mirrors... comrades that he knew were already dead. Their reflections stared back at him in silence with pale gaunt faces and their eyes tracked him as they walked. Among their number, Will recognized some of the order's older veterans as well as the younger ones he had trained with as a novice. He saw his own Master Alvarez among the deceased and recoiled in dread when the phantom images slowly began to extend their arms, trying to reach out to him through the glass barriers. As they did, the faces of the Skywardens became more twisted and monstrous. Shadowy hands of the wraiths began to extend out from the dark mirrors but the evil spirits were suddenly repelled when they ran up against the Skywarden's protective spell. The shield flared with angry light, searing the wispy hands and causing the ghostly phantoms to hiss and claw in pained anger.

Kara spotted one of the stronger phantoms push against the ward and draw near causing her to lash out and slice at its hand with her blade. She pulled her companion's arm and urged him forward, "Don't look at them! We have to keep moving! Go!"

Will blinked at her and shook off his momentarily paralysis before they hustled down the rest of the hallway, accosted on both sides by the aggressive wraiths coming from the mirrors. The shadowy Stygian entities continued to claw at the ward and weaken it, spurring the two to push forward and slash their way through the last of their foes. At the other end of the hallway, the wraiths retreated back into the mirrors while Will and Kara panted to catch their breaths. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Kara sighed brushing aside some loose strands of golden hair. "You looked a little shaken back there."

"I'll be okay," Will muttered as he gripped his Prism Sabre, "Probably best not to tell the Rangers when we see them. I do have an image to maintain."

The moment was suddenly interrupted as they both heard the sounds of explosions and a fearful crowd nearby. Kara stood up straight and tilted her head, "Come on. That sounds like the carnival. We must be close to an entrance near the surface."

"Right. Let's hurry before it's too late!" Will agreed as they started to run down the winding corridors hoping to find the captive civilians along with their captive students.

* * *

Meanwhile on the main floor of the Carnival Macabre, the show was reaching its climax. The evil Ringmaster Grimmaldo ordered his masked juggler to lob several flaming skulls at the captive Rangers in their cages. The projectiles detonated around them rattling the cages and throwing them about while the monstrous cast of the circus laughed in glee. The captive civilians remained in their seats and watched the spectacle, too afraid to move lest one of the explosive fireballs was hurled their way. Grimmaldo glanced over and saw the avatar of Shemhazai return to the tent and sit down in her seat to watch the grand finale. As the juggler handled his last three bombs, the ringmaster flicked his whip and called out to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for! I hope you're ready for some real live fireworks! You're about to witness a finale you'll never forget!"

Up in their cages, Jung breathed a fearful curse in Korean while he struggled to free his hands. Alex tried to use his body and rock his nearby cage loose while Julia whimpered in dread from her own. "This isn't the way it's supposed to end."

"Shit! We can't give up here!" Alex growled as he continued to struggle, "I'm not going down without a fight! Jung! Julia! Come on!"

Despite the Red Ranger's desperate bravado, he felt his stomach drop as he realized there wasn't much he could actually do. All that was left was to watch as the juggler approached and prepared to hurl the flaming skulls. Grimmaldo glanced over to Shemhazai and saw his queen give an approving nod for the coup de grace. The demon ringmaster gave the signal and the skulls were hurled into the air. The crowd gave a collective gasp as the explosives sailed toward the cages, but stopped when a powerful gust of magical wind swept by and caught them in midair. The powerful winds swirled around the tent and threw the projectiles back at the juggler and demon clowns below. Grimmaldo gasped and recoiled as the redirected skulls blasted several of the Stygian minions apart in violent clouds of fire. Shemhazai's lips curled into murderous rage as she turned to see a Skywarden and a female Power Ranger now make their appearance. "How dare you!"

"The show's over!" Will called as he called his weapon's name and unleashed its true form, "Oathkeeper! Be my strength!"

The blade transfigured itself into a glowing blue katana which crackled with lightning energies leaving the Rangers staring with a mixture of awe and relief. Julia's jaw dropped while Jung gave a cheer over her, "No way... Mr. Sheppard? Miss Bishop?"

Will took a fighting stance and raised his guard, "I'll hold the clowns off. Kara, you've got the Rangers?"

"All over it!" she called as she rushed forward and morphed in mid-stride, "Vanguard Ascend!"

In a burst of golden light and thunder, the Vanguard Ranger leapt into the air and took flight with her wings. She soared up high and drew her gladius sidearm as she reached the Rangers' cages. Julia offered her bound hands which Kara quickly cut free. "Miss Bishop! you made it! Are we glad to see you!"

"There's no time to waste," Kara answered quickly as she cut the boys loose and pulled her Feather Stinger blaster pistol, "Get ready to morph!"

She shot out the chains which held the cages in place and watched as they plummeted below. As the cages fell, they were blasted apart from within as red, blue, and yellow light flared out, "Infinity morphers! Break the limit!"

As the remains of the cages crashed to the ring below, the three younger Rangers landed safely on the ground, fully morphed with their weapons already drawn. Alex hefted his spear and gestured toward the remaining minions who were scrambling to regroup. The Cambion sigils on the heads flared and exposed them as normal Pariah foot soldiers,"I don't know about you guys, but I feel like dishing out a little bit of payback."

"I've got you guys covered!" Julia answered as she quickly raised her bow and fired off an arrow of light.

Across the battlefield, Will charged forward and engaged the demon ringmaster Grimmaldo in single combat. As he did, Will displayed the Skywarden fighting style of martial arts bolstered by wind and lightning magic. As he nimbly advanced, Will slashed his sword and called up gusts of wind to help parry aside several strikes from the demon's spiked chain. When he neared, Will summoned a pocket of air underneath his feet and evaded another strike as he made an agile leap over his opponent before slashing him across the back upon landing. Grimmaldo staggered with a pained curse and prepared to counterattack but anther burst of wind blinded his eyes and knocked him back several feet.

Once he recovered his footing, the ringmaster lashed out again with his chain and grinned as it snared the forte of Will's katana, "Hmph! Looks like your little puffs of air can't save you anymore Warden."

"No. But this can," Will answered as he called up a surge of lightning from his blade. The electricity was conducted through the metal chains of the whip and Grimmaldo howled as he was blinded, scorched, and thrown backwards from the blast all in a split second. While the demon ringleader staggered back to his feet in a daze, he already felt his skin burning while his limbs hung half paralyzed from the electrical shock.

"How can this be? You're not even a Power Ranger..."

"I'm not," Will agreed as he raised his glowing katana and dashed forward, "But you made a big mistake when you tried to hurt my Rangers!"

He blew past the monster with a final burst of speed and delivered a finishing sword strike akin to a samurai warrior ending a duel with one blow. In a powerful flowing strike, Oathkeeper slashed through the demon like a searing thunderbolt and destroyed Grimmaldo, reducing him to a fiery burst of shadows and smoke. Will remained in place and waved his sword to disperse the fires with a follow up gust of wind before returning the blade to his belt with a calm _iaido_ style movement of a Japanese swordsman.

Within another ring of the circus, Kara swooped low and bowled over some soldiers before she threw herself directly at Shemhazai with both scimitars dawn. The avatar of the witch queen rose and flicked her wrists to deflect Kara's ferocious slashes with ribbons of Stygian shadows. The demon cackled as she took a few steps back and swiftly deflected another flurry of sword strikes, "My, my, Miss Bishop. I'm glad to see that a few decades have not slowed you down. I will look forward to our eventual rematch."

Kara tumbled over one of the witch's swipes with an agile midair somersault before counterattacking. "Why wait?"

Shemhazai stopped Kara's swords with a plume of darkness before wrapping herself in the shadows like a protective cocoon. Moments later, it burst into a dark cloud of smoke as Shemhazai vanished from the battlefield, "Soon, Gold Ranger. But not today."

Kara skidded backward and raised her guard as the blinding smoke swept over her and dissipated. She growled from behind her visor and lowered her swords, "All right witch... I'll be ready."

She turned to survey the battlefield, catching sight of the three Infinity Rangers taking on the last of the monstrous circus troupe. Jung somersaulted on to a platform and used his Noble Crest armored greaves to kick aside Pariahs who came near to swipe at him. He hopped over several claws and vaulted off the platform to grab a nearby soldier by the arm. the Blue Ranger whipped the Pariah around and caused it to collide with several others before Jung unloaded with his flying jump kick finisher on the pack of foes, "Final Flare! Infinity Strike!"

In a burst of blue light, the monsters were all knocked over like bowling pins and disintegrated into plumes of dark smoke. Nearby, Julia rolled off the back of an enemy and hopped on to a platform before firing off another arrow. A pack of Pariahs charged her and in a moment of improvisation, she jumped up high toward a low hanging trapeze bar. She hooked her legs around it and swung over the Stygians using her position to fire down on them with her Skybreaker Bow. "Final Flare! Infinity Strike!" As she flipped off the trapeze, she fired a scattershot of powerful light rays while passing by overhead. The hapless minions were all mowed down in one shot by the rain of light arrows as Julia landed gracefully back to the ground and secured her weapon.

Across the way, a handful of Pariahs surrounded Alex and lifted their facemasks to hyper-extend their shadowy maws. One by one, they pulled blade weapons from their mouths like sword swallowers prompting Alex to level his Parhelion spear, "Huh. That's a nice trick. Let's see if you can swallow spears though."

He deftly twirled his spear and took a defensive approach, deflecting his enemies' attacks aside with whirling strikes. The Red Ranger blocked his enemies two at a time with both ends of the weapon while he wove through their passing attacks and batted them aside. Once he centered himself within the enemy formation, he lit the head of his weapon and brought the spear around in a spinning finisher, "Final Flare! Infinity Strike!"

The glowing spearhead left a bright red arc of searing light as it swept around in a circle and shattered the Stygian's swords while also splitting them in half. Once they were vanquished, the Rangers regrouped and found their mentors had prevailed in their own duels as well. Will smiled in relief as he met his morphed students, "Everyone... you're okay!"

Jung looked over to the crowd of civilian captives who now began to rise from their seats. Now that the monsters were defeated, everyone was desperate to find an escape from the evil circus tent. Despite the situation, the Blue Ranger offered a half joke, "So... that was quite a show. Should we all take a bow, or something?"

"I think we need to find a way out of here," Kara said as she noted the entrance to the tent had seemingly vanished, leaving them trapped within the pocket dimension.

Will nodded quickly and mustered his remaining strength to cast one more spell. He had already exerted himself quite a bit tonight but there was no telling how long this pocket dimension would remain stable before collapsing in on itself either. The Skywarden closed his eyes, muttering a quiet incantation while tracing a few arcane gestures in the air. A few feet away, a wide portal of light began to open up and offer an avenue to escape. While Will concentrated, the Rangers waved the frightened civilians toward the portal, "Over here everyone! This will take us to safety! Hurry!"

Seemingly at a loss for words, the circus-goers decided not to argue. After all, these strange new Power Rangers had saved them from harm so there was no reason not to trust them. The crowd of people hurried through the portal in a mass exodus followed by the Rangers and then the Skywarden once everyone else was safely evacuated. When the Rangers emerged back on the other side, they found themselves in the chilly night air, unmorphed, and standing back in Grant Park. Unlike before, the field was empty and the giant tent was gone along with any other trace of the demonic circus. In a sense, the whole experience now seemed like some bad dream... or mass hallucination?

The civilians who were now standing around all looked about in mild confusion. The Rangers could hear the people murmuring among each other and muttering to themselves, "What happened? Why are we standing around here? What are all these other people doing here?"

The Infinity Rangers looked to their mentor and Julia asked, "Mr. Sheppard? Uh... what did you just do?"

He gave an exhausted look along with a quiet wink, "I've never been a big practitioner of enchantments... but I've found a little mind fog spell does wonders when you need to wipe some short term memories too."

* * *

Later that evening, tourists and local visitors bustled about the grounds of Navy Pier. Bright lights and colorful decorations adorned the grounds of the large public pier which served as one of the city's chief attractions on the near north side. The restaurants, shops, and convention halls that were located there were buzzing with holiday activities and weekend party-goers while the pier's giant iconic ferris wheel continued to turn slowly in the air. After their harrowing encounter downtown, the exhausted Rangers decided to try and salvage the rest of the evening with some dessert and a relaxing walk on the pier. They had their fill of horror for the night so haunted houses and movies were completely out of the question.

On the pier, Kara sat and waited at an outdoor patio table with Alex and Jung taking some amusement from people-watching. Some visitors to the exhibition halls came out dressed up in some elaborate costumes while the occasional drunk from some of the other parties passed by.

"All right gang. We're back. Sorry about the wait," Will said when he returned to the table with Julia, "I promise I've got all treats. No tricks."

He set down a large container of funnel cake for the three teenagers to share while Julia sported some little black cat ears on a headband. Jung gave her a curious look and poked at one of them, "What's with the ears Julia?"

"I just figured I'd get in the spirit of things and these looked cute," the Yellow Ranger explained pointing over to a nearby stall, "I picked this up on sale from that little costume stand over there. Oh, and I got something for you too Miss Bishop."

Kara blinked in surprise as Julia reached into a little baggie and produced another headband, only this had some feathery fluff and sported a small golden halo on top. "Oh... I don't know about that."

"Come on, I thought it was a little funny," Julia giggled as she placed it on the Gold Ranger's head.

Kara gave a sigh of resignation while Julia took a picture with her phone. Will couldn't help but laugh in amusement along with the boys, "It looks good on you. Seriously."

Kara crossed her arms and rolled her eyes until Will rose from the table and produced two tickets from his coat pocket, "All right. Cheer up Kara. I've actually got something here that'll make you feel better. Come with me?"

He gestured to the giant ferris wheel and called over to the Rangers, "You three have at that funnel cake there. We'll be back shortly."

The three younger Rangers didn't give it a second thought and began to share the dessert while Kara followed the Skywarden across the pier to the entry ramp of the wheel. Once they handed in their tickets, they were seated in a large enclosed carriage enclosed by glass windows. Will sat down making sure to leave one seat's space between him and the Gold Ranger as it made its way into the air. From their vantage point, the ferris wheel began to offer a panoramic view of the city lights and the quiet waters of Lake Michigan which rippled along the shoreline. As Kara gazed at the skyscrapers, Will kept watch over the illuminated coast with a sigh, "This certainly beats fighting our way out of the circus from Hell, doesn't it?"

Kara turned her head with a curious look and settled into her seat, "It does... but I'm still a little confused why you insisted on buying tickets for this ride."

The Skywarden gestured to the view as the ferris wheel carriage continued to climb higher into the night skies, "You said you were feeling homesick. I know it's not Colorado, but this was the best I could do. Like I said before, we may not have mountains, but we've still got some great views, don't you think?"

The Gold Ranger folded her arms and kept a level gaze on him, "I suppose you're right. But tell me... why are you really doing this?"

Will sat back and gave a thoughtful look, "Consider this my way of saying thank you... for the way you've helped the Rangers along, and the way you helped me tonight when we were stuck in the dungeons. Shemhazai was right about you acting as my guardian angel tonight. Honestly, our team couldn't have made it this far without you, and neither could I."

Kara's expression softened, "Don't mention it. I'm just glad I could put some of my own experience to use today. But if I were you, I wouldn't sell myself too short either. You're a good teacher to the Rangers and despite what Shemhazai said, I think they're going to be in good hands."

She paused and gestured to the view as the ferris wheel carriage neared its peak, "And for what it's worth, I appreciate the thoughtful gesture... so thank you."

The Skywarden gave a quiet nod before they settled into a companionable silence, content to enjoy the view and the quiet company. As the carriage descended a ways and made its way toward the ground, Kara tapped a thoughtful finger on a window, "You know Will... when you asked if I wanted to come along for a night on the town, I was relieved your intent wasn't to make it any kind of romantic date."

"Oh? Why is that?" he asked curiously.

"Well... given everything else that's happened tonight, I'd say it would have been a complete disaster, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," Will shrugged, "The evil circus was a bit much. I usually save battles with witch queens and demon clowns for second or third dates anyway."

The sheer absurdity of his words caught Kara off guard and she turned to stare at him incredulously. Will cracked a small grin and was surprised when he heard Kara break out into stifled laughter. The Skywarden gave a pleased nod as their carriage stopped and they disembarked to meet the Rangers waiting nearby on the outdoor patio, "Ah, so you do have a sense of humor after all."

The Gold Ranger stopped to resume her calm stoic demeanor and echoed his words from earlier while primly adjusting her little angel halo, "Yes, well... probably best you don't tell the Rangers. Remember... I do have an image to maintain as well."

The Skywarden couldn't help but smile quietly as she walked off to rejoin the others. After everything they had been through that night, he knew he could trust her as a friend who understood what it meant to keep one's guard up and wear a brave face. For now at least, Will Sheppard was content to have his new Ranger friends back and he didn't plan on letting them go again... not any time soon and not without a fight. "Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me."

* * *

**A/N: **  
**Here is my slightly belated Halloween trick and treat to you all. Hopefully you all enjoyed the the insanity and the slightly darker/horror elements in this plot. With character focuses now out of the way, we can turn toward the main plot arcs and dive right into the series proper. Thanks again for reading everyone!**


	13. Calculated Risks

**Episode 6: Part 1**

A cold November wind whistled at the windows of the secluded Watchtower as the leaves of the surrounding forests continued to fall. Gray overcast skies of late autumn now hung over the town of Riverbrook but the weather didn't seem to affect the young wizard who was already hard at work.

Will Sheppard sat in the warm comfort of his well lit study poring over a large messy stack of books and papers which now lay piled up on his table. It was Thursday evening and the Rangers had already gone home after their daily training. In lieu of dinner, Will decided to take advantage of the lull knowing that the tower would now be mercifully quiet save for its other occupant. He had been so engrossed in his work that he almost didn't hear someone knocking at the door, softly at first before it became more insistent. He finally looked up in surprise only to see a familiar blonde haired woman enter. "Kara? Hi. I thought you'd still be eating dinner. I'm sorry I didn't hear you just now."

The Gold Ranger shrugged and carried in two large mugs before offering one of them to him, "No need to apologize. I made some hot tea and figured you might want some too."

"Yes. Thank you," he sighed in gratitude while taking the mug, "I could use a break."

Kara eyed the cluttered desk and raised a curious eyebrow, "Doing a little light reading? Because I doubt you're grading papers."

Will sighed again and took a long sip of tea, "I'm not, but it's still something important. I had been thinking quite a bit about our little run-in with Shemhazai a few weeks ago. After what she told us, I decided it might be a good idea to try and do some more research on our foes."

Kara quietly nodded as she took a sip of her drink and sat down on the corner of the desk, "That makes sense. It's important for any warrior to know their enemy and understand the way they think. If I had known you were so concerned about it, you could have asked me. After all, Shemhazai is an enemy that my team and I know all too well."

"That may be true," the Skywarden admitted, "But it's clear that she's become very different since her ascension, and much more powerful. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have much information about the realm of Stygia either… about its history, its powers, or its lore."

He paused and frowned quietly to himself, "At least not with the materials I have."

Kara thought it over for a moment, "Is there some other person or place that might have the information we need?"

Will's face grew more somber as he paused again, "My mentor… Master Alvarez. He helped the artificers of our order craft the Infinity Morphers. That was always more of his specialty. I'm willing to bet he's got more detailed records hidden away somewhere… maybe even some other morphers."

"But he's gone now. Where would he possibly keep…" Kara stopped and felt her stomach drop, "Oh no. You're not really going to suggest what I think you are… are you?"

"Raiding the Citadel?" the Skywarden answered grimly, "The thought had crossed my mind."

"Oh no. You're not seriously planning to take the younger Rangers, are you?"

Will shook his head, "No. I wouldn't put them in that kind of danger. They're needed here."

The Gold Ranger protested again, "And what about you? They'll need you here. Have you considered that?"

"It's a calculated risk," he argued, "I don't like it either, but I'm the only one here who knows the layout of the Citadel. Besides, if there's anything there that can help the Rangers in their fight, shouldn't we think about taking that chance?"

Kara crossed her arms and regarded him with a disapproving frown. She remained silent, still objecting to the idea while not willing to concede that he had a point as well. "We run this by the Rangers first. Okay?"

"All right. I'll talk to them after school tomorrow," he conceded as he opened up another large tome on his desk, "In the mean time, I'll get back to work here. Hopefully I can try to find something that won't require a suicide mission just yet."

* * *

Elsewhere in the distant gloom of Stygia, the demon witch Shemhazai was also busy within the menacing walls of the Cathedral Oblivion. Inside one of the cathedral's great studies, she pored over a large table littered with ancient scrolls, diagrams, and golden gem encrusted astrolabes. Dim light flickered from the tall braziers lined along the walls of the lavish study while black clouds continued to roil outside the dark stained glass windows. As Shemhazai slowly paced her way around the table, the train of her long dress gave her the illusion of a graceful floating apparition. The witch paused and slowly turned her head when she heard a heavy knock at the door. An armored figure entered and she saw that it was her loyal servant General Noctis, formerly of the Skywarden Order.

The young commander strode forward and stopped to give a reverent bow of the head, "You've summoned me, Mistress?"

Shemhazai's dark lips curled into a small cruel smile exposing her sharp teeth for a moment as she gestured him toward the table, "Yes Noctis, I have. I have been very busy of late, secluded in this study for weeks. Perhaps you are curious to know why?"

Noctis examined the arcane writings and instruments on the table before glancing toward her, "I wouldn't dare presume..."

"I know you have been impatient Noctis," Shemhazai said to him as she rearranged some planar diagrams and touched an astrolabe, "Wanting to take the initiative and keep up the momentum. I can admire that... but now is not the time. Not yet."

Noctis tilted his head slightly in puzzlement, "Mistress?"

The demonic witch spread out another scroll with solar diagrams and lines connecting planes together on an arcane map, "Our new grand strategy. These so called Infinity Rangers have rooted themselves in a very important location... this earth city they call Chicago."

"Well yes..." Noctis answered with a frown, "It's a major world city. But strategically it's..."

"Very important," Shemhazai corrected him, "I will explain more in time, but for now we must make preparations for the coming summer season. That is when our shadow will begin to fall upon the earth."

Noctis shook his head, "I don't understand."

Shemhazai smiled and pointed to the maps, "In several months time, there will be a total solar eclipse over this area... the same city where the Infinity Rangers live. This is the place where our cathedral will make worldfall, and eventually open a path into Confluence. Until then, I want your forces to lay the groundwork for the invasion by planting the umbral anchors for the cathedral."

"What about the Rangers?" Noctis asked, "If there's any kind of invasion, they will surely interfere. Maybe along with other Ranger teams in the world."

Shemhazai gave another predatory smile, "Do not concern yourselves with any other Power Rangers. When the time comes, I will have a way to deal with all of them at once."

Noctis hesitated before giving a nod, "I... understand. You will remain here?"

The witch turned her back and began to glide away from the chambers, "No. I have another matter to attend to at your old Citadel. I've come across some new information and I don't want any extra Rangers getting in our way. In the mean time, see that the necessary preparations are made. Even if it takes an entire cloister of acolytes, I will not tolerate failure."

Noctis watched her depart and gave an uneasy look as he turned toward the table. He didn't plan to let Warden Sheppard and his Rangers get the better of him and if he was going to succeed in this new campaign, he decided that he would start by making a statement.

* * *

The next day, the minute hand of the wall clock inched forward at an agonizingly slow pace as the three Infinity Rangers sat through their last period class that Friday afternoon. At the blackboard, Julia's mother Mrs. Walker scrawled out some bullet points in chalk while she continued to give her lecture about world history. "The idea for the Concert of Europe came about in the early 1800's. After the violence of the French Revolution and the Napoleanic Wars, leaders looked for a way to create a new balance of power between the nations... a way for the great powers of Europe to restrain each other and keep one another in check. Unfortunately, that attempt at unity fell apart and helped set the stage for the first world war."

Alex sighed and glanced over to the chairs beside him to see both Julia and Jung furiously taking notes off the board. At the end of the row, he noticed one of their other classmates was busy as well. Instead of taking notes, Yurina Kobayashi was idly sketching some pictures of flowers in her notebook and they were surprisingly good. The tall Asian girl rarely ever spoke up in class or talked to people for that matter so it was a bit of a surprise that she had artistic talent too. The the only things Alex really knew about her was that she was a fellow Junior and she liked wearing baggy pink sweaters.

His attention was drawn back to the board as another student raised his hand to interrupt the teacher. "Mrs. Walker? No disrespect or anything, but what's the point of us learning about these politics and old guys from 1800? Aren't there more interesting topics out there?"

Julia stopped writing and looked over to see who had asked the question and challenged her mother. She saw it was Tony Bradley, one of their other classmates sitting near the back of the room leaning casually in his seat. He was a tall stocky boy with dark skin and a powerful build which he put to good use on the football field. She knew that Tony was one of Alex's teammates and was one of the school's best offensive linemen. Judging by all the pins and patches on his letterman's jacket, it wouldn't be a surprise if he made All Conference next year.

Mrs. Walker simply smiled at the question and answered calmly. "I know some of these events may seem boring and pointless, but remember... things that happen in the past causes the present. We in turn, affect the future."

She began to walk down the aisles passing out papers as the final bell rang, "There's a good lesson to be learned here about nations and conflicts and that's why I'd like you all to work together in groups for your next assignment. I've divided you into teams of five and I want you to do a research paper on why the Concert failed and what is significant about it. Class dismissed!"

When the sheet finally came around to them, Jung took a glance then turned to Alex and Julia. "Well, I guess that's good news. It looks like we're all working together."

"Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't by design or anything," Julia sighed as she gave her mother a small wave from her desk.

"At least if a monster attacks, we'll have a couple other people to help cover for us," Jung offered while trying to sound hopeful. As the three huddled, Alex turned to see Tony amble over. The big jock gave a slow nod as he buttoned up his blue letterman jacket over his green raglan style shirt.

"Yo, Everett. I guess we're gonna be teammates off the field now too, huh?"

The Red Ranger shrugged to his classmate and gestured toward the others, "Yeah, looks that way. Tony, you know my friends? Jung and Julia?"

"Uh... sorta," he replied as Jung surprised him and offered an earnest handshake. He looked to Julia next and crossed his arms, "You think your mom will go a little easier on us in her grading since you're with us?"

"Knowing her? I wouldn't count on it," Julia answered before trying to flag down the last member of their new group. Yurina reluctantly shuffled over and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pink hoodie, "Hey! Yurina, right? You down to work together?"

Yurina eyed Julia with a skeptical look and gave a non-committal shrug, "Not like I have much choice. So we're also with the foreign kid and the two muscleheads, right?"

Alex and Tony exchanged a mutual look of displeasure at the slight but the Red Ranger decided to opt for diplomacy instead, "Looking forward to it. Maybe you could design a coversheet for us? I noticed you seem to be a pretty good artist."

Yurina grimaced slightly and scribbled something on to a sheet, "Uh, thanks."

She handed the paper to Jung and walked off to go home for the day, "My number is there if you guys need it. See you round."

"Well, she seems... pleasant," Jung remarked in dismay toward his fellow Rangers.

"Whatever man. If that's what floats your boat," Tony muttered as he turned to depart, "Aright, I'm off to hit the gym and get some extra weight training in. Everett, let me know what the plan is later?"

Once he left, Jung turned to Alex, "At least Tony seems okay. He's your buddy, isn't he?"

"Ehh... I wouldn't go that far," Alex answered, "Let's just say he's one of the few guys on the football team who's indifferent toward me."

Their conversation was interrupted as Mrs Walker came over gestured toward the door, "Julia dear, Mr. Sheppard just paged me. He said he wanted to talk to you and the boys about some assignment?"

"Ohhhh right! It was an uh... extra credit thing," the Yellow Ranger lied quickly as she kissed her mother's cheek and the three headed out the door, "We'll be here for a while so don't wait up. I'll get a lift from Alex. Bye Mom!"

The three friends hurried out through the busy halls of the highschool weaving their way past students who were ready to go home for the weekend. As they hustled, Jung raised an eyebrow, "You know, it's a little worrying that you're getting good at lying to your mother about Ranger stuff."

"Yeah. Don't remind me," she agreed as they rounded a corner and headed into Mr. Sheppard's classroom. To their surprise, they found Principal Gaylyn was already there speaking to him along with Kara. From the looks of it, Will wore a mild grimace and was trying to find a polite way to extricate himself from the inopportune visit of his boss.

"Principal Gaylyn?" Alex said both as a greeting and a surprised exclamation.

The genial dark skinned principal saw the teens and turned back to give a sheepish look to Will, "Oh. I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you too long. I see you have students waiting."

He glanced over to Kara and shook her hand with a kind smile, "Miss Bishop, it was nice to meet you again. I hope you'll consider applying for the position because we could really use the help right now."

"Thank you. I'll consider it," Kara answered politely.

When the principal had departed Will closed the door as Jung scratched his head in confusion, "Miss Bishop? What was all that about?"

"Kara came along to discuss something important today but the principal ambushed us," Will answered in dismay, "It seems he's looking around for an interim girl's PE teacher and thinks she could do the job."

Kara gave a thoughtful look and scratched her chin, "It would be nice to get out and work a little more since I had been squatting in the Watchtower for the last two months. You wouldn't have an issue with me working in the same school, would you?"

"I would," Julia interjected, "PE sucks already. The last thing I want is it turning into Bootcamp Round 2 for me every day."

Will cleared his throat and waved it off, gesturing for the Rangers to sit down and listen, "We can deal with that later. Right now, I wanted to talk to you all about something else."

The three teens sat quietly and listened as their teacher laid out his plan to infiltrate the Citadel in hopes of recovering any lost lore. When he finished, Jung gave a pensive frown and spoke up, "I think it's a very risky plan Mr. Sheppard and I don't like it... but I think there might be some good in it too."

"Do you really think you'll be able to find something? Like more power morphers? Or maybe some kind of research book?" Julia asked with equal hesitation.

"Knowing my master, I would bet on it," Will nodded grimly, "If it can aid you in your fight, I'll do whatever I can to help you three."

Alex stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, "All right. When do we head out?"

"You three are going to stay here," Kara answered flatly, "You've all come a long way these past few months, but this mission is much too dangerous even for you. That's why I'm going along instead."

Will turned in surprise, "Kara? What do you think you're..."

"If these kids are going to get their teacher back in one piece, you're going to need a veteran Ranger to watch your back," she replied firmly, "And I won't hear any more arguments, got it?"

The Skywarden relented but gave a small appreciative nod, "Okay... thank you. As for the rest of you, I'll need you to keep an eye on things here in Riverbrook for the next day or two. I'm counting on you three to handle things by yourselves. Think you can handle it?"

Alex turned to his two friends and gave a small joking grin, "All right guys. The parents are gone for the weekend. Let's invite all our classmates and throw a kegger at the Watchtower."

"You can count on us Mr. Sheppard," Jung answered dutifully while Julia sighed and gave the Red Ranger a swift elbow to the ribs.

* * *

Late the next morning, the three Rangers gathered again in a small coffee shop in downtown Riverbrook to work on their group research project. Their two new partners Tony and Yurina had also come to join them, though they looked less than thrilled to be spending their Saturday morning doing schoolwork. As they pulled out their notepads and textbooks, Jung came back with some coffee cups for his friends and noticed the Yellow Ranger looking a little uneasy. "Everything okay Julia?"

She shrugged and kept her voice low as she accepted the mug, "I don't know... I guess I'm a little worried about Mr. Sheppard and Miss Bishop right now. I hope they're doing okay."

"I know what you mean Jules, but it's out of our hands right now," Alex added quietly as Jung gave him a coffee mug too, "They're trusting us to keep things safe here so we'll just have to trust in them too."

Across the table, Tony was already trying to strike up a conversation with his other classmate out of boredom, "Sooo Yurina. That's an interesting name. Do you go by Rina or something?"

She looked at him with a flat expression and answered, "No. But if I did, I'd only let my friends call me that."

After an awkward pause, Tony muttered to himself under his breath, "And with an attitude like that, I doubt you have any to begin with."

Alex glanced over and caught the tense exchange so he cleared his throat and called the group to order, "Aright everyone. Let's get to work on this. I was thinking maybe we should..."

"Woah. Hold up," Tony interrupted, "Who suddenly put you in charge of the group?"

"No one," Alex answered in mild confusion, "But I figured since I had some ideas, I could start by taking the lead and..."

Tony gave a mild scoff, "And what if someone else wanted to be team leader on this project instead?"

"Are you nominating yourself?" the Red Ranger asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "You want to call the shots and be our QB here?"

Tony gestured to Jung and Julia, "No. But what about your friends here? Maybe they want to call the shots. Do they always follow your lead and do what you say, or something?"

"Of course not," Jung argued back, annoyed at the idea of being thought of as some kind of subordinate, "We're all equals here."

"Jung is right," Julia said in agreement, "Nobody bosses each other around."

Tony shrugged and turned to Yurina sounding doubtful, "Hey. Whatever you say gang. I'm just saying what I think."

"Well I think you're wrong," Alex said flatly as he tapped his notebook with a scowl, "Now are we gonna get started on this assignment, or what?"

Before anyone else could reply, the teens all heard a loud commotion outside. From behind the cafe windows, they could see numerous pedestrians run by in a panic as a group of Stygian footsoldiers made their approach down the street. In the distance, police sirens were already wailing but the shadow beast minions didn't seem at all bothered and continued to shamble on.

"Great. Just what we don't need right now," Jung grumbled while Julia eyed the approaching enemies.

"They're getting bolder. An attack in broad daylight and they don't look as aggressive as usual? Something must be up."

Alex nodded and headed for the door, "Aright. We can figure that out later. Guys?"

Jung and Julia followed after him amid the uproar from other fearful patrons of the cafe. Yurina blinked in confusion and frowned, "Hey! Are you three insane? Where do you think you're going?"

"We're going to distract those things and lure them away," Julia lied as she called back to the other two, "The two of you should run. Now!"

Yurina balked again and grabbed her bookbag, "You guys must be mental! You're really gonna go after those monsters outside?"

Tony shook his head and grabbed Yurina's arm as they followed the rest of the crowd out of a rear entrance, "Come on. If those three weirdos want to try and be heroes, let em!"

As the cafe began to clear out, the three Infinity Rangers hurried outside and sprinted down the block until they could face down the platoon of Stygian Pariahs who were making their way into the heart of the town. With the street mostly empty, the three pulled out their morphers and faced down their enemies with a look of determination. Alex's morpher flared to life with red light as he stepped forward, "These guys look like they took a wrong turn. Let's send them on a one way street back to Stygia. Ready?"

The three raised their morphers which now pulsed with bright red, blue, and yellow light. They had been left in charge to protect the town by themselves and that was exactly what they were going to do. "Infinity Morphers! Break the limit!"

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Apologies for not having updated this in quite some time. I had been finishing writing another series and then real life got a bit "interesting" for all of us. Now that things are settling down a little, I will be planning to get in some more regular updates so thank you again to everyone who's still sticking with me and with this story. Additional thanks also go to my friends _Blackvvater_ and _Bookworm 101234_ for their generosity and help in creating the characters of Tony and Yurina. I can guarantee they're going to be playing some important roles in the near future. Take care and stay safe everyone! More chapters will be on the way soon!**


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